(Senior) Engineer in Test Embedded Software, meoSphere

The job responsibilities outlined in this document are not exhaustive and may evolve over time and be reviewed according to business needs.

PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION

meoSphere is SES’s next-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation, designed to deliver secure connectivity services to government agencies, enterprises, and commercial customers. It will also provide high-speed broadband internet to eliminate global connectivity dead zones. To accelerate development timelines, reduce costs, and ensure quality, SES is internalizing a critical segment of the satellite supply chain: the final integration of partner satellite platforms with SES’s software-defined payloads, all within a cutting-edge manufacturing and test facility.

ROLE DESCRIPTION SUMMARY

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Software Engineer in Test to strengthen quality engineering across the meoSphere embedded software team. You will combine hands-on embedded test development with technical leadership, helping the team build a proactive quality culture, establish maintainable test practices, and continuously improve the guidance, tooling, and evidence used to demonstrate software quality. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable testing software close to hardware, enabling engineers through clear standards and coaching, and driving quality throughout the full development lifecycle.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES / KEY RESULT AREAS

• Own and evolve the embedded software quality strategy, test approach, and quality guidance for the whole embedded software team.
• Promote a proactive quality culture in which testability, prevention, early feedback, evidence, and continuous improvement are shared engineering responsibilities.
• Design, implement, review, and maintain automated tests for embedded software written in Rust, C, and C++, including unit, component, integration, regression, and system-level tests.
• Define practical test patterns, coding and review guidance, quality gates, acceptance criteria, and reusable templates that teams can apply consistently.
• Build and maintain scalable test frameworks, fixtures, simulators, mocks, stubs, and tooling for embedded Linux, bare-metal, and hardware-coupled environments.
• Integrate automated testing, static analysis, coverage, sanitizers, and quality checks into CI/CD and DevSecOps pipelines, with clear and actionable reporting.
• Lead software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), bench, and target-based test activities, including environment readiness, reproducibility, diagnostics, and test asset maintenance.
• Work closely with software architects, developers, systems engineers, hardware designers, FPGA engineers, AIT, security, and mission teams to derive testable requirements and end-to-end verification coverage.
• Establish and maintain requirements-to-test traceability, test evidence, defect workflows, quality metrics, and release-readiness criteria appropriate for mission-critical embedded software.
• Support defect prevention and resolution through risk-based testing, exploratory testing, root-cause analysis, anomaly investigation, and verification of corrective actions.
• Coach and mentor engineers in test design, testability, debugging, code reviews, and disciplined engineering practices; facilitate quality reviews and knowledge sharing.
• Contribute to design reviews, integration campaigns, mission readiness activities, and the preparation of software quality evidence for internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify quality risks to mission-critical timelines, communicate them clearly, and drive pragmatic mitigation while adapting to evolving programme needs.

COMPETENCIES, QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• A degree in computer science, software engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven senior-level experience in software quality engineering, software development in test, or embedded software verification within satcom, avionics, automotive, industrial, medical, or another mission- or safety-critical domain.
• Strong hands-on experience designing and implementing automated tests for embedded or real-time software systems.
• Strong programming skills in at least one of Rust, C, or C++, plus proficiency with Python or another scripting language used for test automation and tooling.
• Experience with unit, component, integration, regression, system, robustness, fault-injection, and negative testing techniques.
• Experience building or maintaining test frameworks, mocks, simulators, test harnesses, and automated bench or target-control solutions.
• Practical experience with embedded Linux, bare-metal systems, cross-compilation, toolchains, and low-level debugging using tools such as GDB and JTAG.
• Experience integrating automated tests and quality controls into CI/CD pipelines, including static analysis, code coverage, sanitizers, and machine-readable test reporting.
• Experience with SIL, HIL, target-based testing, and the diagnosis of complex software, hardware, timing, concurrency, and interface issues.
• Ability to define clear quality guidance and influence engineering teams without relying on formal authority.
• Experience translating system and software requirements into risk-based test strategies, maintainable test cases, traceability, and objective release evidence.
• Strong analytical, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to explain quality risks and trade-offs to multidisciplinary stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience testing satellite payloads, spacecraft avionics, space-grade electronics, or other highly reliable embedded platforms.
• Knowledge of fault management, health monitoring, redundancy management, recovery mechanisms, telemetry, and telecommand interfaces.
• Experience validating FPGA-integrated systems and hardware/software co-design environments.
• Familiarity with test management, requirements management, defect tracking, and quality dashboards in tools such as Azure DevOps.
• Experience with security testing for embedded products, including secure boot, certificates, key rotation, update mechanisms, and vulnerability remediation.
• Familiarity with ECSS software engineering and product assurance practices, or standards such as DO-178C, MISRA, ISO 26262, IEC 61508, or equivalent.
• Experience improving team-wide quality culture through coaching, communities of practice, retrospectives, and measurable improvement initiatives.
• Relevant professional certification in software testing, quality engineering, or functional safety is an advantage.

OTHER KEY REQUIREMENTS / COMMENTS

• The candidate must be eligible for a “SECRET” security clearance, in accordance with the national regulations as well as EU/ESA/NATO equivalents
• Willing to work at least 60% onsite from office
• Able to travel nationally & internationally