Senior Software Engineer, Ground Station Platform

About the role Muon is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our team and help scale our core platforms. In this role, you'll design foundational architecture, ship customer-facing features with real, immediate impact, and tackle a wide range of complex technical challenges. You'll work within a tight-knit team that values open communication, cross-functional collaboration, and moving quickly without cutting corners. You'll partner closely with other engineering teams to translate business needs into reliable, well-crafted solutions. Whether you're building something from scratch or improving what already exists, you'll have a direct hand in shaping the systems our customers depend on every day. This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our San Jose, CA office three days per week. Responsibilities • Design, build, and evolve high-performance systems that are scalable, resilient, and reliable. • Work across the stack, and cross-functionally to deliver end-to-end platform capabilities. • Contribute to architectural decisions that shape the long-term direction of our core systems. • Identify and resolve bottlenecks, performance issues, and systemic risks in production environments. • Partner with cross-functional teams to translate business and product needs into well-crafted technical solutions. • Participate in code reviews, technical design discussions, and knowledge sharing across teams. • Take ownership of features from concept through deployment and ongoing operation. Qualifications • BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field OR equivalent industry experience. • 8+ years of software engineering experience, with strong proficiency in Python, C++, or Rust, in production environments. • Experience in distributed systems, backend services, or platform development. • Demonstrated experience building and operating mission-critical services with uptime, reliability, and performance requirements • Knowledge of cloud-native infrastructure (e.g., containers, service orchestration, observability stacks). • Strong debugging, profiling, and code optimization skills. • Experience mentoring junior engineers or leading medium to large technical initiatives. Nice-to-have Skills • Comfort working in a highly interdisciplinary environment with engineers, operators, and domain specialists. • Familiarity with real-time data processing pipelines or high-throughput systems. • Experience with CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, or automated deployment workflows. • Contributions to open-source projects or a track record of technical writing and knowledge sharing. Salary The salary range for this role is $213,000 - $237,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process. About Muon Space Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world. Taking Care of Our Team At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave. Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know. Muon is currently registered and able to hire in the following states: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IA, ID, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA ITAR/EAR Requirements This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.