Software Engineer - Vehicle Software & Firmware

Software Engineer - Vehicle Software & Firmware

Join to apply for the Software Engineer - Vehicle Software & Firmware role at Urban Sky.

Urban Sky is a venture-backed aerospace startup that pioneers the utilization of the stratosphere and reimagines the way humans view and analyze the earth. We design, build, operate, and sell stratospheric balloon systems, and the data we collect supports a wide range of applications, from real-time wildfire monitoring to urban mapping. Our technology is also employed by government customers including the Department of Defense, NASA, and others.

Urban Sky sends flight vehicles to the stratosphere on a weekly basis.

Urban Sky is seeking a Software Engineer to join our Engineering team in Denver, CO. In this role, you will own vehicle software and high‑level firmware for a family of high‑altitude stratospheric balloon systems with active altitude control. You will design and implement embedded and application‑layer systems that interface with power, sensing, actuation, navigation, and communications hardware to enable safe, reliable, and repeatable stratospheric operations.

This role requires strong embedded/real‑time engineering fundamentals and an ability to ship robust software in a fast‑paced aerospace startup environment. You'll work hands‑on with solar power generation, charge control, batteries and BMS, power distribution, valves and motor controllers, GPS/IMU‑based navigation sensors, onboard communication networks (CAN, UART/RS‑485, Zigbee, Ethernet), and satellite communications (Globalstar, Iridium, Starlink, etc.).

• Design, implement, and maintain onboard software and high‑level firmware for stratospheric balloon systems with altitude control
• Integrate and manage vehicle power systems: solar arrays, MPPT/charge controllers, battery packs, BMS interfaces, and power distribution hardware
• Build command and control for actuators and mechanisms (valves, pumps/compressors, motor controllers, heaters, deployment mechanisms, payload interfaces)
• Integrate navigation and situational awareness sensors (GNSS/GPS, IMU, magnetometer, barometric/pressure sensors, temperature sensors, transponders)
• Develop robust telemetry, logging, and command protocols with clear fault handling, watchdogs, and safe‑mode behaviors

• Design software interfaces for common embedded buses and protocols (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, RS‑485/Modbus, Ethernet) and manage timing/latency constraints
• Integrate and validate radios and internal networks (Zigbee/802.15.4, LoRa, LTE where applicable) and ensure deterministic behavior for critical loops
• Integrate satellite modems and external communications links (Globalstar, Iridium, Starlink, etc.) including message framing, prioritization, and retries
• Implement configuration, provisioning, and secure update mechanisms for fielded vehicles (versioning, compatibility, rollback strategies)
• Build test infrastructure: hardware‑in‑the‑loop rigs, flight software simulation hooks, and automated regression tests for vehicle subsystems
• Create tools for ground‑side, bring‑up, and debugging (command‑line utilities, log parsers, telemetry dashboards as needed)
• Partner with electrical, mechanical, and flight operations teams to define interfaces, validate requirements, and close issues quickly
• Drive reliability improvements through root‑cause analysis, instrumentation, and structured verification plans

• Vehicle Power & Energy Management
• Command, Control & Altitude Management
• Navigation, Avionics & Tracking
• Communications & Vehicle Networks
• Test, Simulation & Flight Operations Tooling

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer with embedded and/or real‑time systems
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ and Python (or similar), including building, testing, and debugging production systems
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills; comfortable working across hardware and software disciplines
• Strong computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, concurrency) and engineering judgment
• Experience owning systems end‑to‑end: requirements,…