Software Engineer - Backend / Embedded
Antares
Location
Los Angeles
Employment Type
Full time
Department
Engineering
About Us
At Antares, our long-term mission is to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt. We’re fueled by the belief that advanced nuclear energy can strengthen our military, solve the climate crisis, elevate global living standards, and expand humanity's presence in outer space. To achieve our mission, we’re building mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors that can be used terrestrially, underwater, and in space.
Formed in 2023, the Antares team hails from SpaceX, The White House, MIT, Rigetti Computing, the Air Force, the Navy, General Atomics, Relativity Space, Ursa Major, Ultra Safe Nuclear, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Antares has raised over $39M in venture capital from top-tier investors and has over $4M in government funding.
About the Role
Antares is seeking an Embedded Software Engineer (Linux) to develop a real-time control and monitoring software that forms the central nervous system of the reactor. This software manages system state, processes commands, handles telemetry, and coordinates communication across all reactor subsystems to ensure safe and reliable operation. This work enables precise control of reactor conditions, continuous data visibility, and robust response to off-nominal events.
With our First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) reactor design underway, you will help define and implement the next generation of our control and data infrastructure. You will work closely with controls, electrical, and safety engineering teams to design, test, and validate software that interacts directly with sensors, custom electronics, and supervisory systems. Your work will ensure that the reactor operates safely, efficiently, and as intended from prototype through deployment.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Owner of middleware between application and embedded code to operate the reactor.
Develop and maintain real-time reactor software applications executing on Linux-based computers, responsible for C&DH (command handling), and state management.
Design and implement test and control that exercise subsystem modes, fault management/injection, and autonomous behaviors.
Build and maintain the network and communications stack for inter-process and inter-computer communication (e.g., TCP/UDP, CAN over Ethernet, DDS, ZeroMQ, or custom protocols).
Develop software to receive and process uplinked commands, validate them, trigger state transitions, and produce structured telemetry.
Interface with and develop hardware abstraction layers (HALs) and system services to exchange data with off-the-shelf components (DAQs, power supplies, etc.), sensors, controllers, and control algorithms.
Collaborate closely with software, electrical, and controls teams to ensure software correctly integrates with underlying hardware and real-time networks.
Write and maintain system-level test frameworks, simulations, and HIL environments to validate command/telemetry and state machine behavior.
Participate in software and design reviews, code reviews, and contribute to the definition of interface control documents (ICDs) and communication schemas.
Contribute to system performance optimization, and fault tolerance
Basic Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
3+ years of experience developing C/C++ applications for Linux or similar POSIX environments.
Strong understanding of multi-threaded, multi-process applications and inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms.
Experience developing and debugging networked systems using TCP/UDP sockets, message queues, or publish-subscribe middleware.
Familiarity with deterministic or real-time execution on Linux (RT patching, scheduling priorities, timing analysis, etc.).
Proficiency with Linux development tools (gcc/clang, gdb, valgrind, CMake, etc.) and source control (Git).
Preferred Skills & Experience:
Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
Experience developing flight or mission-critical software for aerospace, robotics, or automotive systems.
Deep knowledge of distributed systems and communication middleware (e.g., DDS, ZeroMQ, gRPC, or custom telemetry buses).
Experience designing and implementing state-machine architectures and autonomous mode management software.
Familiarity with real-time telemetry, command and control systems, and on-board data handling.
Proficiency in Python for scripting, data analysis, or automated testing.
Experience with containerized or simulation environments (Docker, Gazebo, or custom hardware simulators).
Knowledge of real-time Linux (PREEMPT_RT) and embedded Linux system configuration and deployment.
Understanding of safety-critical development processes (DO-178C, ISO 26262) or model-based systems engineering concepts.
Experience with HIL environments, test automation frameworks, and continuous integration pipelines.
Ability to communicate clearly across disciplines and with external regulatory stakeholders.
Excellent analytical, debugging, and documentation skills.
Ability to work in cross-functional environments bridging software, electrical, and system integration disciplines.
Location
We are located in Torrance, CA in a 145,000 square foot, brand new facility featuring large open spaces for team collaboration, R&D, and production, as well as easy access to the 405, 105, and 110 freeways. Our facility is in the heart of Los Angeles' vibrant emerging tech ecosystem alongside many other high growth startups and enterprises.
Culture
At Antares, we like to specifically tie each role to our founding document’s set of values–here are the top five cultural values we think you should believe at your core to be successful:
Think in Systems - Energy and Defense are complex ecosystems with numerous stakeholders with competing priorities, conflicting policies, perverse incentives, and emergent and path-dependent properties. First principles thinking alone is insufficient. Think probabilistically and then take action. “If you want to be certain, then you are apt to be obsolete.” Over-optimizing the components often degrades the system
Obsess over the End User - The customer and end user are often not the same. We will never build globally competitive commercial products if we lose sight of our end users and their entire interaction with the product life cycle
Be Unconstrained by Convention - Our only limits are the laws of physics. Many, even experts, will say what we are working on is impossible. They said the same about SpaceX reusing rockets. Generationally impactful companies, by definition, must accomplish the seemingly impossible. If it were easy, it would have already been done. Never shy away from a solution because it has never been tried before, and never choose to do something because that's “how it's always been done”
Craftsmen - We also focus on the inputs. We aspire to high-quality engineering for its own sake. As such, we invest in personal growth, learning, and developing a long-term career path for exceptional individual contributors. We embrace a beginner’s mindset, share knowledge, and never condescend the curious
Seriously Optimistic - We’re ambitious and we believe we’re capable of achieving things others believe are impossible. We reward audacity and don’t let cynicism, sarcasm, snark, or belittlement influence us to lower the bar
Equal Opportunity
Antares is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.
ITAR Requirements
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
