Senior Software Engineer, Temporary

Viasat’s System Software team is hiring a Senior Software Engineer (Temporary) to build and maintain Linux-based software for AlmaLinux-powered Mobility Access Servers used for inflight WiFi and streaming. The role blends embedded systems, CI/CD operations, security hardening, and production troubleshooting using field data.

Role Overview

You will contribute to a software stack that spans from boot and storage health through application services, container orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, and security remediation. The team supports embedded Mobility Access Servers (MAS) deployed on aircraft, and you will help diagnose production failures and deliver fixes.

Location and Work Model

This is an onsite role in Carlsbad, CA. Employees work 3+ days (60%+) per week from a Viasat office or work location within a standard five-day workweek. Travel up to 10%.

Responsibilities

• Provide software engineering support as part of an agile development team.
• Design and drive software architecture for a Linux-based operating system and custom support applications that involve REST, hardware interfaces, ARINC controllers, cellular device controllers, and other low-level driver support.
• Participate in the design, development, and testing of supported software products.
• Maintain and improve CI/CD systems with focus on GitHub Actions, Artifactory, Vault, and GitHub.
• Improve and implement testing for both virtual environments and bare metal hardware to reduce production issues.
• Debug and investigate production system failures using syslog-ng, fluent-bit, and journalctl alongside field data from live aircraft deployments.
• Manage and maintain ZFS storage pools, monitor disk health, and improve storage subsystem reliability.
• Develop, deploy, and maintain containerized services using Docker and k3s on embedded hardware.
• Drive security posture improvements including secret/key rotation, file integrity monitoring, and remediation of penetration test findings.
• Participate in code reviews to support quality over short- and long-term delivery.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering.
• 5+ years of 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, including systemd service lifecycle, boot process debugging, and log-based forensics (e.g., 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 delivering software using CI/CD and DevOps practices.
• Familiarity with development and infrastructure tools including Git, GitHub, Docker, HashiCorp Vault, and artifact management platforms (for example, Artifactory).
• Ability to champion modern software practices and uphold software quality standards throughout development.
• Strong analytical skills for evaluating software architecture and design, including existing codebases.
• Perform tests following a requirement-based testing approach.
• Familiarity with AI coding tools (for example, GitHub Copilot) to accelerate development.

Technologies and Tools

AlmaLinux, Linux, C, C++, Rust, Go, Bash, Python, REST, systemd, journalctl, syslog, syslog-ng, fluent-bit, ZFS, Docker, k3s, Kubernetes, Git, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Artifactory, Vault (HashiCorp Vault), GitHub Copilot, cgroups, MGLRU

Salary Range

• USD 140,500 - 261,000 per year.
• $140,500.00 - $221,500.00 / annually.
• For specific work locations within the San Jose, San Francisco Bay area, and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range is $174,000.00 - $261,000.00 annually. Viasat considers multiple factors when determining compensation, including scope of the position and the candidate’s background and experience.
• Base pay may vary based on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
• Additional cash or stock incentives may be provided, along with a range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits depending on the position offered.