Job Description

Mission

Aetherflux's mission is to deliver energy to planet Earth. Our work will make energy more accessible, establish American energy independence, power underdeveloped and disaster-stricken areas, and protect American warfighters.

Background

Aetherflux is taking a new approach to an old idea called space solar power. Our constellation of satellites will collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit, convert it to electricity, and transmit power through infrared lasers to ground stations, providing reliable energy access where traditional delivery is expensive, challenging, or dangerous.

Current energy systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure, making them vulnerable to natural disasters, extreme weather, and physical and cyber attacks. Aetherflux overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable 24-hour energy distribution from space. This can revolutionize energy generation and delivery, and enable new capabilities as we deliver power to remote regions, military bases, bespoke operations, and unmanned autonomous systems.

Baiju Bhatt, who also co-founded Robinhood, founded Aetherflux in 2024. Inspired by his father’s career at NASA, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before starting Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Aetherflux is currently self-funded through a $10 million investment from Baiju.

This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Aetherflux’s team has worked at places like Robinhood, SpaceX, NASA, Anduril, JPL, and the U.S. Navy, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

Overview

The Lead Software Engineer at Aetherflux will design and develop software solutions for our space-based energy transmission platform. This role requires expertise in embedded software, real-time systems, and distributed computing. The ideal candidate will be responsible for building high-reliability software that controls satellite operations, beam steering, and data management, working closely with electrical, optical, and mechanical engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Satellite Software Development: Design, implement, and test highly reliable software systems for autonomous satellite operations.
• Ground Systems Integration: Develop and maintain APIs and tools for seamless communication between space-based systems and Earth-based operations.
• Data Pipeline Engineering: Build low-latency, high-throughput pipelines for telemetry processing and real-time analytics.
• Embedded Systems: Develop and test flight software for onboard control systems, ensuring fault tolerance and high performance.
• Prototyping and Validation: Create simulations and hardware-in-the-loop testing setups to validate system functionality under real-world conditions.
• Performance Optimization: Continuously enhance software scalability and reliability for a growing satellite constellation.
• Collaboration: Partner with hardware, mechanical, and systems teams to effectively integrate software with satellite systems.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience in software development, with a focus on mission-critical systems.
• Proficiency in modern programming languages such as Python, Rust, C/C++, or Go.
• Strong understanding of Linux-based systems, real-time software, and distributed architectures.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and source control systems (e.g., Git, GitHub, GitLab).
• Knowledge of cloud platforms such as AWS or Google Cloud for backend integration.
• Proven ability to debug, test, and optimize complex software systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 6+ years of experience in aerospace or satellite software engineering.
• Familiarity with geospatial data processing, satellite telemetry, and event-driven architectures.
• Proficiency in containerized environments and orchestration tools, such as Docker (Swarm), CRI-O (Kubernetes), or similar.
• Hands-on experience with FPGA programming and embedded systems.
• Strong understanding of network protocols.
• Expertise in fault-tolerant and distributed systems design.

Benefits

• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Unlimited paid time off
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year
• Paid leave for new parents
• Relocation assistance

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Aetherflux’s discretion.

Aetherflux is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Aetherflux is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here .

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