Software System Engineer at The Exploration Company
Houston, TX
$85,000–$170,000
Jul 12, 2026
Houston, TX
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A software systems engineering role focused on certifying flight software for a reusable orbital cargo vehicle. Day-to-day work involves verification and validation, requirements tracing, test planning, and preparing documentation for software certification and NASA safety reviews, in close coordination with software development and systems engineering teams. Suited to engineers with a background in safety-critical or aerospace software and familiarity with C++ and Python.
Senior level · National
Posted 3 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $138,970 (middle half $107,524–$175,762).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
Location is not explicitly stated in the posting. The Exploration Company is a European (German/French) aerospace startup; the role is likely based in Europe (Munich or Toulouse), so the US-based flag is set to false. No CBSA/metro could be determined.
The title 'Software System Engineer' and the role's focus on V&V, certification, requirements tracing, and test planning makes this a genuine hybrid between Software Developers (15-1252) and Computer Systems Analysts (15-1211). The hands-on C++/Python engagement and flight software design baseline responsibilities tipped the primary classification to 15-1252.
C++ and Python appear in the main responsibilities section with firm language ('Use your understanding of C++ and Python to meaningfully engage…'), treating them as hard gates. Requirements management and V&V are similarly framed as core required competencies throughout the responsibilities block.
All 'Nice to have' items (specific standards such as SSP 50808, NASA-NPR-7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8B, RCC319, ECSS-Q-ST-80C; human-rated spaceflight experience; model-based systems engineering; CI/CD) are listed under an explicit 'Nice to have' heading and are marked preferred accordingly.
No compensation range is mentioned in the posting.
Relocation assistance and visa sponsorship are offered, suggesting this is an on-site or hybrid role rather than fully remote.
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): requirements management, model-based systems engineering, ECSS-Q-ST-80C.
This role's work location reads as outside the US — the candidate pool, comp, and contention benchmarks here are US-only (BLS employment, Adzuna/USAJOBS demand, and certified H-1B wages), so treat them as a rough US reference, not a local market.
Read the full posting
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