About Archangel Lightworks
Archangel Lightworks is a laser communications company building wireless technology. Founded in 2017, we believe that laser communications to and from satellites is a key component of next-generation infrastructure. Our core product, the TERRA-M, is a deployable optical ground station with proven capability for space - ground data transfer.
Our team develops and operates products that advance the security and resilience of critical national infrastructure. We value compassion, resilience, curiosity, ownership and integrity. Our start-up is a fast-paced and supportive environment, where you can contribute to novel technology with meaningful applications like reducing the Digital Divide.
Archangel Lightworks recently closed over £10 million of investment in an oversubscribed Series A funding round. Our company is also supported by the UK Space Agency, the UK’s Department of Science and Technology (DSIT) and the UK Ministry of Defence.
About the job
To support our growth, we are looking for an experienced engineer with the practical skills and problem solving ability to develop embedded software designs. This is a hands-on technical role, developing new software and systems to support control, automation, and data developments.
Responsibilities:
As an Embedded Software Engineer, you will be primarily responsible for the development of embedded systems, from design through implementation and testing, to integration. You will work closely with the project and software leads, to deliver high performance communication and control systems. You will be able to take full responsibility for a design and see that through to integration on the ground station. Your responsibilities will include:
- Designing, developing and testing embedded software across different subsystems
- Supporting test automation and system integration and deployment
- Providing specialist skills ideally, to broaden the tests skill base (i.e. Linux, FPGA, IoT, image processing etc)
- Contributing to the development, integration, testing, and operations for optical ground stations
- Continuous improvements to software processes, including developing automated tests.
Requirements:
- Real-Time / Embedded software development in C / C++
- Development with RTOS (ideally FreeRTOS) and on Linux
- Working with networking (Ethernet and IP), DMA, and hardware interfacing (I2C, SPI, CAN, and EtherCAT) protocols
- Developing for multi-core and FPGA based systems
- At least 4 years relevant commercial experience post-graduation
- Proficient use of Git version control and CI systems
- Python development, including test scripts.
Desirable additional skills:
- Xilinx FPGA/MPSoC and associated tool chain (Vivado, Vitis etc) experience
- Satcomm protocols, Optical free-space comms, and familiarity with Space related standards (CCSDS, ECSS, SDA etc)
- High speed (1Gbps+) comms protocol implementation experience (forward error correction, clock recovery, zero copy etc)
- IoT or cloud software integration and protocols, such as MQTT
- Experience in FPGA development, VHDL or Verilog
- Yocto Linux / Petalinux or buildroot build experience
- Rust development experience
- Control systems, Matlab / Simulink, including Embedded coder / HDL code generation
- Managing CI/CD pipelines
- Systems / requirements engineering experience, including use of UML / SysML.
Location: Our office is based in Osney Mead, Oxford. There may be opportunity to work from home as agreed with your line manager. There may be opportunity for periodic business travel.
What we offer:
- Opportunity to work on advanced optical systems to support a world-changing vision
- A collaborative and transparent culture with strong links between functions
- Regular socials and weekly company lunch
- Professional development and skills growth within a specialist engineering field
- Competitive salary and benefits package, with equity options in a growing start-up
- 25 days annual leave allowance plus bank holidays
Archangel Lightworks is an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to equality, we work to ensure a fair and consistent interview process. If you need any assistance or accommodation to complete your application or assessment, please contact us through the application form.
We recognise that many candidates use AI tools when applying. That’s fine Please ensure your application reflects your own experience, skills, and thinking.
We assess applications based on authenticity and accuracy, so anything generated with AI should be reviewed, personalised, and representative of you.
Skills Required
- 4 years relevant commercial experience post-graduation
- Embedded software development in C / C++
- Development with RTOS (ideally FreeRTOS) and on Linux
- Proficient use of Git version control and CI systems
- Python development, including test scripts
What We Do
Archangel Lightworks is a laser communications company building high-volume, secure, wireless technology to create the space-enabled networks of the future. Today, space and terrestrial networks are not well-connected leading to insecure, insufficient, and vulnerable infrastructure. Nearly 3 billion people are unconnected and many more are under-connected. Subsea cables, which form the backbone of global network infrastructure, are at risk from climate disaster and bad actors. Links between satellites, which offer an opportunity for resilient connectivity, and the ground are reliant on radio, which is bandwidth constrained, finite and not secure. Archangel Lightworks was set up to solve the space-ground connectivity problem. Wireless laser communications (lasercom) technology offers new solutions; however, adoption of the technology has been slow due to availability concerns, lack of interoperability standards, difficulties associated with lasercom on the move, and high production costs. Our tech solves these problems. We are driving down the size, weight, power & cost (SWaP-C) of optical ground equipment to make space-ground lasercom available and affordable. Our core product, TERRA-M is a miniature optical ground station which is approximately the size of a mini fridge. Compared to traditional networks such as radio, the TERRA-M allows more licence-free data transferred at low probability of detection (LPD) and low probability of interception (LPI). TERRA-M brings deployable, resilient connectivity to wherever it is needed, solving some of Earth’s most critical problems from economic inclusion to climate change. Archangel Lightworks is based in Oxford, UK and Archangel Lightworks USA is based in Orlando, Florida.
