Head of Flight Software at AdAstra
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Aug 17, 2026
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Sep 25, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A foundational leadership role at a venture-backed orbital launch vehicle startup, responsible for building and running the flight software team from near-scratch. The hire will set architecture and development standards for flight-critical embedded software spanning RTOS, GPOS, FPGA, and baremetal targets, while staying hands-on as a technical contributor across flight computers, avionics integration, and GNC algorithm implementation.
Senior level · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
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 Aug 18, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
The role is explicitly a player-coach: the posting states 'Stay hands-on. This isn't a pure management seat.' This makes 15-1252 (Software Developers) the primary SOC, with 11-3021 (Computer and Information Systems Managers) as a genuine runner-up given the team-building and hiring mandate.
No overall years-of-experience figure is stated — the posting uses the phrase 'impactful and results-driven years' without specifying a number, so no minimum total years was recorded.
The degree requirement (CS, EE, or Aerospace) appears only under the Preferred section, explicitly footnoted as 'desired, not required,' so it is not treated as a hard gate.
Aerospace/launch-vehicle flight software experience, GNC algorithm implementation, HIL/SIL frameworks, and software assurance standards (DO-178C, ECSS, NASA) are all listed under Preferred and are marked accordingly.
Compensation is fully bespoke — base, bonus, and equity are set individually with no stated band. The posting references California pay transparency law but provides no actual range.
The ITAR section describes a company structure designed to avoid ITAR control, with a counsel-managed authorization process for US persons. No security clearance is required or gated on.
Read the full posting
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