---
title: 'Embedded Software Engineer at Venus Aerospace'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-software-engineer-venus-aerospace-houston-y7pnbsj1jsz9'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-16'
---

# Embedded Software Engineer at Venus Aerospace

- **Company:** Venus Aerospace
- **Location:** Houston, TX
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-16
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/venusaero/73e8b964-23ed-49f5-90d9-b05ea55f0113

## Job description

Who We Are: Venus Aerospace is revolutionizing rocket engine propulsion. With the first generational leap in rocket engine technology since Apollo, our proprietary Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine and Venus Detonation Ramjets deliver historic efficiency and performance across aerospace applications. We are building the next generation of propulsion platforms that enable breakthrough capabilities in space, defense, and commercial high-speed flight. Our team thrives on solving the toughest engineering challenges and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in aerospace. At Venus, we’re looking for bold engineers and innovators who want to make history and redefine the future of propulsion.

The Role: Embedded Software Engineer We are seeking a talented Embedded Software Engineer to help develop the flight software that powers our next-generation avionics and flight computer systems. You’ll join a small, multidisciplinary Software team that currently spans embedded systems, ground software, hardware test and data acquisition, HIL/V&V, and internal enterprise software. As an early member of our growing Embedded Software team, you’ll have significant ownership in shaping the architecture, processes, and technical direction of this area. As the company grows, this role offers the opportunity to take on technical and people leadership and help build out the Embedded Software organization.

## What You'll Get To Do

- Develop Flight Software
- Design, implement, and integrate real-time embedded software for our flight computers and avionics systems.
- Translate system and hardware requirements into robust, maintainable, and testable software.
- Work across the hardware/software boundary to bring up, debug, and integrate embedded systems.

Build for Reliability:

- Develop software with the rigor required for mission-critical aerospace systems, including fault handling, verification, and configuration management.
- Develop automated unit, integration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing to verify flight software.
- Collaborate with Avionics, GNC, Test, Ground Software, and QA engineers to identify and solve complex system-level problems.

Shape the Embedded Team:

- Help establish our embedded software architecture, development processes, tools, and engineering practices.
- Take ownership of projects from initial concept through implementation, integration, and flight readiness.
- Grow with the company and, as the team expands, have the opportunity to mentor engineers and lead the Embedded Software organization.

## What You Have

Experience-Level:

- Software engineer with 5+ years’ experience developing embedded systems for flight-related systems.
- Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related engineering discipline. Advanced degree a plus.  Equivalent professional experience may be considered.

Embedded Software Fundamentals:

- Strong proficiency in C and/or C++ for resource-constrained embedded systems.
- Experience developing software for microcontrollers, SoCs, or embedded CPUs.
- Strong understanding of embedded concepts:
- Interrupts and interrupt handling
- DMA peripherals
- Memory-mapped I/O
- Timers and watchdogs
- Serial communication interfaces
- Concurrency and synchronization
- Memory management and resource constraints
- Ability to read schematics, datasheets, reference manuals, and hardware specifications and translate them into software requirements.

Real-time Systems:

- Experience developing real-time embedded software with deterministic timing requirements
- Familiarity with RTOS concepts, such as scheduling, priorities, synchronization, inter-task communication, and timing analysis.
- Understanding of latency, jitter, deadline misses, and failure modes in real-time systems.
- Experience reasoning about system behavior when multiple asynchronous events occur simultaneously.

Safety/Reliability-Critical Aerospace Software:

- Experience developing software where correctness, reliability, and fault handling are critical.
- Experience with:
- Fault detection and handling
- Redundancy or graceful degradation
- Watchdogs and health monitoring
- Startup/self-test behavior
- Robust state-machine design
- Safe handling of unexpected inputs and hardware faults
- Understanding of the difference between nominal behavior and behavior during degraded or failed hardware/software conditions.
- Experience with Weapons Open Systems Architecture (WOSA) and Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA).

Verification and Testing:

- Experience writing unit & integration tests
- Ability to create test cases from software requirements.
- Familiarity with code coverage and other objective measures of verification.
- Ability to diagnose problems spanning the SW/HW boundary.

Software Engineering Practices:

- Good candidates should be comfortable with:
- GIT and modern code-review workflows
- CI/CD for embedded systems
- Static analysis and compiler diagnostics
- Automated regression testing
- Requirements tracking and traceability
- Issue tracking and defect analysis
- Peer reviews of both code and design
- Writing clear technical documentation

Systems-Level Thinking:

- Collaborate closely with Avionics, GNC, Propulsion, Test, and Ground Software engineers
- Translate system-level requirements into software architecture and implementation
- Understand interfaces between flight software and sensors, actuators, communications systems, and other onboard computers.
- Participate in system architecture and interface definition
- Diagnose problems that may originate in hardware, firmware, software, configuration, or integration.

What Will Set You Apart

- Experience developing or integrating embedded software within modular weapons, missiles, avionics, or other mission-critical architecture.
- Familiarity with defensive programming and failure containment.
- Experience interfacing/developing code for FPGAs
- MIL-STD-1553, RS-422, and RS-485 experience
- Experience with compliance to DO-178C or MIL-STD-882E standards
- Thrust Vector Control (TVC) experience
- Experience working with Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs)
- Experience working with Global Positioning System (GPS) chips
- SpaceWire / Time-Triggered Ethernet experience
- Experience with Model-in-the-Loop (MIL), Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing environments and best practices
- Experience debugging software using: JTAG/SWD or equivalent debugging interfaces, Logic Analyzers, Oscilloscopes, Serial/Network interfaces, Embedded tracing/logging tools
- DAQ fundamentals for voltage, current, and temperature measurements
- Experience developing automated test infrastructure.
- Experience with GitLab pipelines, Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence), or systems engineering practices.
- Experience working in a development environment where changes need to be reviewable, reproducible, and traceable.

Location: On-site in Houston, TX

Benefits: Venus Aerospace employee benefits include a 401(k) plan, stock options, and medical benefits, including dental and vision. We have a flex-Friday flexible schedule, unlimited PTO, and receive professional development opportunities.

ITAR Requirements This position involves access to technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls. To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be able to meet ITAR requirements (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State). You can learn more about ITAR here.

Venus Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer including Disabled/Veterans. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation, please email careerassistance@venusaero.com or call (281) 203-0027.This email and phone number were created exclusively to assist job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Messages or any other purposes, such as following up on an application, third party staffing agencies, website technical issues, or any other issues not related to a disability, will not receive a response. Messages will be returned within five business days.

For additional information about our Equal Opportunity Employment Policy, please visit our EEOP page.

## About Venus Aerospace

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Venus Aerospace is developing the first generational leap in rocket engine technology since the Apollo era, using a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) to power hypersonic flight for space, defense, and commercial applications.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A; Total Funding: $46M)
- **Headquarters**: Houston, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Sassie Duggleby (CEO) and Dr. Andrew Duggleby (CTO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Aerospace & Defense – Hypersonic propulsion, rocket engine manufacturing, high-speed flight systems.
- Target customers: Government (defense, space agencies), commercial aerospace (satellite launch, high-speed transport), and private industry partners.
- Mission/Purpose: “Connect the world and make it safer” by enabling one-hour global transport through revolutionary hypersonic technology.

## Products & Services
- **Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE)**: A breakthrough rocket engine that uses detonation waves for combustion, offering historic efficiency and low cost. Successfully test-flown in May 2025 – the first high-thrust RDRE flight ever.
- **Venus Detonation Ramjet (VDR)**: An air-breathing engine combining RDRE with ramjet technology, designed to power vehicles from take-off to sustained hypersonic cruise (Mach 5+). Intended for both defense and commercial high-speed platforms.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company).
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding – **$46M** across multiple rounds; Annual Revenue – **$2.8M** (estimated).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**:
  - Prime Movers Lab (led Series A, $20M, April 2022)
  - Airbus Ventures (led $15.9M venture round, June 2023)
  - Texas Space Commission ($3.9M grant, April 2025)
  - Other partners include NASA, Virgin Orbit alumni team.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - 28.7% headcount growth YoY (69 employees; +28 from previous year)
  - 27,085 LinkedIn followers (+36% YoY)
  - Successful first flight test of high-thrust RDRE in May 2025
  - Actively hiring for 14 open positions (engineering, manufacturing, test, finance)

## Competitive Advantages
- **First fundamental improvement in rocket engine technology in 60+ years** – RDRE eliminates complex turbopumps, reduces part count, and increases efficiency.
- **Affordable by design** – Simple construction, standard materials, and reusability allow lower production and operating costs compared to traditional rocket engines.
- **Proven flight test** – On May 14, 2025, Venus executed the world’s first high-thrust RDRE test flight, validating the technology.
- **Scalable platform** – The same core engine architecture can be used for space launch, hypersonic missiles, and commercial air travel.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale the RDRE and VDR engines for production and integration into defense platforms (e.g., hypersonic vehicles, drones) and commercial applications.
- Secure additional government contracts and strategic partnerships.
- Continue capital-efficient development while growing the team and infrastructure in Houston.
- Pursue flight testing of the VDR air-breathing engine.

## Why Work Here
- **Impact**: Join a small but fast-growing team working on the most significant propulsion breakthrough since the Apollo missions.
- **Culture**: The company emphasizes “curiosity, collaboration, and balance,” trusting engineers to take bold swings and solve tough problems.
- **Environment**: On-site work in Houston, Texas – a hub for aerospace innovation (Space City). Offices near major space players.
- **Team**: Composed of alumni from Virgin Orbit, SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA, and top engineering schools. Flat structure with high ownership.
- **Growth**: Ability to shape the future of propulsion from an early stage; exposure to full product life cycle from design to flight test.

## Sources
1. [venusaero.com](https://www.venusaero.com/)  
2. [venusaero.com/careers](https://www.venusaero.com/careers)  
3. [venusaero.com/team](https://www.venusaero.com/team)  
4. [linkedin.com/company/venusaero](https://www.linkedin.com/company/venusaero)  
5. [jobs.lever.co/venusaero](https://jobs.lever.co/venusaero)

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