Principal Software Engineer

Company Overview Iridium is an award-winning and innovative satellite communications company with bragging rights to the only network that offers voice and data connectivity anywhere in the world.   For over 20 years, Iridium’s unique network and services have supported critical communications needs for individuals, businesses, and the evolving Internet of Things. At Iridium, we understand the importance of staying connected and the limitations of traditional communications networks. People across the globe, including first responders, humanitarians, global militaries, scientific researchers, and lone workers, as well as ships, aircraft and remote operations all rely on Iridium to stay connected. We take our responsibility for providing these essential communications very seriously and pride ourselves on offering a reliable lifeline when needed.  Likewise, Iridium is committed to providing an exciting and innovative workplace, where employees are challenged to think outside the box and collaborate on new, bold ideas and solutions.  Our talented teams are passionate about their work and the impact our company makes around the world.  Iridium fosters an empowering and inclusive culture that allows employees to genuinely be their best selves.   We are looking for others who want to join this truly unique company that celebrates our employees and provides the opportunity to truly make a difference in the world. What We’re Looking For: Iridium is seeking a hands-on technical leader with expertise in test automation, software architecture, and the engineering tooling that powers modern development teams. In this role, you will serve as the technical authority over automation framework for our Solutions Automation team. You will partner closely with the associate director, engineering managers, and stakeholders to translate the long-term technical roadmap into well-designed solutions, leading through technical authority rather than direct reports. You will thrive in this role if you are a technically sound engineer who is able to solve complex architecture problems, set standards that elevate the entire team, and drive innovation through automation. Our work spans the full stack and then some: from device-level integration (Python/pySerial talking directly to hardware) up through Python data and automation services (FastAPI, Pandas, NumPy, Airflow), event streaming with Apache Pulsar, PostgreSQL and the ELK stack, and out to React front-ends on Linux. Parts of our infrastructure run on AWS (EC2, ECS/ECR, ALB/NLB), and we're actively expanding our cloud footprint. We're looking for someone comfortable operating across that whole range, not an expert in every tool. What You’ll Do: Partner with technical leadership to define and evolve the framework architecture for the Solutions Automation team, including design patterns, technology selection, and integration standards Define standards and reference patterns for integrating generative AI into the software development lifecycle, including AI-assisted test generation, triage, and developer tooling, with clear attention to quality, code provenance, IP, and security Prototype new frameworks, patterns, and AI-augmented tooling to validate architectural decisions before team-wide adoption Partner with the associate director and engineering managers to shape and drive the long-term technical roadmap, establishing and maintaining technical standards, coding practices, and quality benchmarks, and reviewing and approving designs Own lab and framework standardization, ensuring consistent environments and tooling across all teams, and drive technical modernization and platform scalability initiatives Represent the Solutions Automation team (SAT) in Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs), Daily Change Control Boards (DCCBs), and other technical forums, and facilitate architecture reviews and technical workshops that elevate the team’s capabilities Grow the technical depth of every engineer on the team through mentorship, design and code reviews, pairing on hard problems, and leading technical onboarding for new hires Provide technical evaluation support during hiring, including the design of technical interview assessments and candidate evaluation What You’ll Need to Succeed: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field 10+ years of progressive engineering experience, preferably in software development, automation, and/or testing Demonstrated experience defining software architecture, framework design, and technical standards for automation or software development teams Comfort operating across the full stack, including low-level device or hardware integration, with the ability to reason about system behavior from the protocol layer up to the user interface Demonstrated experience integrating generative AI tooling into software development or test automation workflows, with the judgment to know where AI adds leverage and where it adds risk Strong understanding of modern software development practices, CI/CD pipelines, cloud-native architectures, and software testing principles (including test strategy, automation, and integration with the SDLC) Proven ability to define and communicate technical vision, making architecture decisions that balance innovation with pragmatism, and to evaluate and introduce new technologies, tools, and patterns that improve team productivity and product quality Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts clearly to both engineering and non-technical stakeholders Product-minded engineering judgment and strong design taste, with experience collaborating with product managers or directly with end users to ensure the team solves the right problems and ships tooling users genuinely want to use Curiosity and a growth mindset, with a pattern of learning new domains and tools quickly, sound judgment in a