At a Glance
- Tasks: Develop embedded C software for spacecraft in challenging environments.
- Company: Join a pioneering engineering team focused on space technology.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, hybrid work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Fast-paced environment with collaboration across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on mission-critical systems that operate in space.
- Qualifications: Experience in embedded C development and understanding of real-time systems.
The predicted salary is between 50000 - 65000 £ per year.
Standard 8 is working with an engineering team that builds embedded software for spacecraft and low orbit systems. These are real platforms, flying in genuinely hostile conditions. Think NASA, think SpaceX and you're on the right lines. This is not app-layer work dressed up as embedded. You'll be writing hardcore C close to the metal: hardware interfaces, tight timing constraints, comms protocols, real-time behaviour, and the messy integration problems that come with all of it. When the hardware is in orbit, the software has to be right, so there's very little room for guesswork.
You'll sit in a multidisciplinary team where software, electronics, systems and mission delivery all overlap. It moves quickly and the bar is high, because the software has to hold up when it actually counts.
The role
You'll develop embedded C for mission-critical systems and own it end to end: design it, build it, test it, integrate it, and support it once it's running. The focus is robust, low-level software that talks straight to hardware. Day to day that means reading technical requirements, working out how the system really behaves, writing clean C, debugging the integration problems nobody else wants, and doing all of it inside a structured engineering process.
Day to Day
- Writing embedded C for real-time and low-level systems
- Developing software that interfaces directly with hardware
- Working with RTOS and/or bare-metal environments
- Supporting requirements definition, software design and implementation
- Debugging timing, interface and integration issues
- Working with communication protocols such as CAN, serial and IP networking
- Building Python scripts or tools for testing, automation or support tasks
- Taking software through review, verification and system-level testing
- Collaborating with electronics, systems and hardware engineers
- Keeping delivery moving without cutting corners on engineering quality
What you’ll need
- Strong commercial experience developing embedded software in C
- Good understanding of real-time software development
- Experience with RTOS or bare-metal systems such as VxWorks, RT Linux, FreeRTOS or similar
- Solid knowledge of low-level software and hardware interaction
- Experience working with structured software development processes
- Python experience for scripting, tooling, test automation or diagnostics
- Familiarity with interfaces and protocols such as CAN, UART, SPI, I2C, Ethernet or IP networking
- Comfortable using modern version control and collaborative development workflows
- Able to work pragmatically in a fast-moving engineering environment
Useful background
- Digital electronics knowledge
- Experience with ARM, SPARC, RISC-V or similar processor architectures
- Previous work in aerospace, defence, robotics, automotive, space, industrial systems or another safety/mission-critical domain
Locations
Embedded C Software Engineer for Spacecraft technology in Guildford, Surrey employer: Standard 8
At Standard 8, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer in the aerospace sector, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration. Our Guildford-based team thrives on tackling complex challenges in spacecraft technology, providing employees with unparalleled opportunities for professional growth and development in a cutting-edge environment. With a focus on quality and precision, we ensure that our engineers are not only well-supported but also empowered to make significant contributions to mission-critical systems that operate in the most demanding conditions.
