Sr. Software Engineer - Build & Release
- Salary
- $165K - $185K
- Level
- Senior
- Work type
- On-site · Burlingame
Not stated in the posting: visa.
Open. First seen 2 October 2026.
About the role
Xona Space Systems's standard text
Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.
With Pulsar – the world’s most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit – Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.
Overview
We are looking for a Sr. Build & Release Software Engineer to join our team, focusing on the application software powering our satellite systems. In this role, you will take ownership of our compilation infrastructure, continuous integration pipelines, and dependency management across large-scale C++ codebases running in Embedded Linux environments.
You will operate at the intersection of software engineering and developer infrastructure, helping improve developer velocity, reduce build and test times, and maintain stable, repeatable releases across both simulated and hardware-integrated systems.
What You'll Do
- Design, maintain, and optimize cross-platform build systems using tools such as CMake and Bazel.
- Manage and upgrade compiler toolchains (GCC, Clang, etc.) while handling complex dependency graphs, third-party libraries, and internal package management.
- Own, scale, and secure Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) workflows tailored for large-scale C++ applications.
- Diagnose and optimize compilation and linking bottlenecks through caching, parallelization, and distributed build strategies.
- Ensure seamless cross-compilation across multiple architectures including x86 and ARM.
- Support testing in containerized and emulated environments using technologies such as Docker and QEMU.
- Write robust tooling and automation scripts in Python and Bash for environment provisioning, static analysis, and artifact generation.
- Partner closely with core C++ developers to improve modular architecture, dependency management, and overall build reliability.
- Build reproducible and deterministic build and release environments across local development, CI, and hardware-integrated systems.
Required Qualifications
- 3 - 5+ years of experience focused on Build/Release Engineering, Developer Infrastructure, or DevOps supporting complex C++ codebases.
- Advanced proficiency with CMake and GNU Make/Ninja.
- Strong Linux shell and scripting skills, including Bash.
- Strong understanding of the C++ build, compilation, and linking lifecycle.
- Familiarity with modern C++ standards (C++17/20/23).
- Experience managing transitive dependencies and modular build targets.
- Experience working within Linux-based development environments.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with Embedded Linux build systems such as Yocto or Buildroot.
- Experience with hardware emulation tools such as QEMU and containerization platforms such as Docker.
- Familiarity with GitLab CI workflows.
- Background in embedded software development and/or aerospace systems.
- Experience with distributed build systems such as Bazel remote execution.
- Knowledge of linker internals, symbol visibility, and binary analysis tools such as ldd, nm, objdump, and readelf.
- Familiarity with static and dynamic analysis tooling including Clang-Tidy, AddressSanitizer (ASan), and SonarQube.
For U.S. Roles: To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
For U.K. Roles: To comply with U.K. regulations, this role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, and successful candidates must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).
For Canada Roles: Successful candidates must obtain and hold a security clearance at the reliability status level, and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR.
Xona Space Systems's standard text
We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
What this role asks for
Particular to this role
Bash · Bazel · CMake · Docker · GitLab · Yocto
Rare in Xona Space Systems's other 40 open postings.
Standard for software engineering roles
Python
Common in software engineering postings at any company.
84% of this description is written for the role. The rest is Xona Space Systems's standard text, folded away below.
Compared with Xona Space Systems's other open jobs.
The team: Engineering HIRES STEADILY
This role is one of 15 open in Engineering. 5 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in January: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.
WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS
Python (10 of 15), C++ (6 of 15), AWS (4 of 15), CI/CD (4 of 15), Altium (3 of 15), Bash (3 of 15), C (3 of 15)
OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM
- Technical Program Manager, Satellite posted Oct 27
- RF Engineer posted Oct 23
- GNSS Engineer posted Oct 19
- Robotics Specialist posted Oct 19
- Technical Program Manager, Software posted Sep 16
- Cloud Security Specialist – Platforms Engineering posted Aug 24
- Sr. Navigation Engineer posted Jul 9
- Sr. RF Engineer posted May 19
- GNSS Engineer posted Apr 24
- Sr. FPGA Engineer posted Apr 23
- Communications / DSP Engineer posted Apr 14
- Software Engineer- Cybersecurity and Cryptography posted Apr 8
- Sr. Flight Dynamics Engineer posted Jan 20
- Sr. Full Stack Engineer posted Jan 17
From the team and dates on Xona Space Systems's own job board.
See Software Engineer salaries in the United States →
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