Senior Software Engineer, Temporary

About this role

About us

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we’re on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We’re looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

What you'll do

The System Software team owns the foundational OS layer — AlmaLinux-based embedded servers called Mobility Access Servers (MAS) — that powers inflight WiFi and streaming content on the world's leading airlines. You'll work on the software stack from bootloader to application services: storage health, container orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, security hardening, and field incident investigation. When something goes wrong on a production aircraft, your team is the one that figures out why and ships the fix.

This is a site-based role; employees work 3+ days (60%+) per week from a Viasat office or work location within a standard five-day workweek.

The day-to-day

• Software engineering as part of an agile development team
• Actively design and drive software architecture involving a Linux-based operating system with custom support applications involving REST, HW interfaces, ARINC controllers, cellular device controllers, and other low-level driver support
• Participate in the design, development, and testing of software products we support
• Maintain and improve our current setup for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) systems, with a focus on applying GitHub Actions,  Artifactory, Vault, and GitHub
• Improve and implement testing, both virtual and on bare metal hardware, to improve software quality by catching issues before they reach production
• Debug and investigate production system failures using log analysis tools (syslog-ng, fluent-bit, journalctl) and field data from live aircraft  deployments
• Manage and maintain ZFS storage pools, disk health monitoring, and storage subsystem reliability
• Develop, deploy, and maintain containerized services using Docker and k3s (lightweight Kubernetes) on embedded hardware
• Drive security posture improvements including secret/key rotation, file integrity monitoring, and remediation of penetration test findings
• Participate in code reviews with a view to deliver quality products in the short and long term
• Travel up to 10%

What you'll need

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering
• 5+ years' hands-on experience using C/C++/Rust/Go/Bash/Python in embedded environments, with a track record of success
• Hands-on experience with Object Oriented methodology and development
• Proficiency with Linux system administration: systemd service lifecycle, boot process debugging, and log-based forensics (journalctl, syslog)
• Experience with container technologies (Docker) and/or container orchestration (Kubernetes/k3s)
• Experience investigating and debugging field incidents and production system failures, including reading system logs, correlating events across services, and driving to root cause
• Experience with developing and delivering software using CI/CD and DevOps practices
• Familiarity with common development and infrastructure tools including Git, GitHub, Docker, HashiCorp Vault, and artifact management platforms (e.g. Artifactory)
• Ability to champion modern software practices and uphold software quality standards in all phases of development
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to evaluate software architecture & design, including existing codebases
• Performing tests following a requirement-based testing approach
• Familiarity with AI coding tools (e.g. GitHub Copilot) to accelerate development

What will help you on the job

• Experience working with Linux distributions and embedded optimized frameworks (e.g. AlmaLinux, OpenWRT, Yocto, Buildroot)
• Deep understanding of the bootloader and application bring-up process
• Experience orchestrating and optimizing resources (CPU, memory, disk) using tools such as cgroups and MGLRU
• Deep familiarity with ZFS storage management — pool creation and recovery, persistent device naming (udev/wwn), disk failure mode analysis, and systemd unit integration for storage subsystem services
• Kubernetes/Helm chart authoring for containerized service deployment on embedded hardware
• Familiarity with infrastructure and security tooling such as HashiCorp Vault, Jenkins, Artifactory, Git, GitHub, and GitHub Actions

Salary range

$140,500.00 - $221,500.00 / annually. For specific work locations within San Jose, the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range for this role is $174,000.00- $261,000.00/ annually

At Viasat, we consider many factors when it comes to compensation, including the scope of the position as well as your background and experience. Base pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Additional cash or stock incentives may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Learn more about Viasat’s comprehensive benefit offerings that are focused on your holistic health and wellness at https://careers.viasat.com/benefits. EEO Statement

Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic. If you would like to request an accommodation on the basis of disability for completing this on-line application, please click here.