Job Description
Space is a warfighting domain. True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures it. OUR MISSION True Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors — enabling the U.S. and its Allies to secure the space environment and counter threats from the ultimate high ground. OUR VALUES Be the offset. We create asymmetric advantages with creativity and ingenuity. What would it take? We challenge assumptions to deliver ambitious results. It’s the people. Our team is our competitive advantage and we are better together. YOUR MISSION Software is the central nervous system for True Anomaly's engineering and product thesis. Software bridges the gap between military objectives, theoretical astrodynamics and the human and autonomous control of spacecraft and ground systems in time and space. True Anomaly is seeking an exceptional Staff Elixir Software Engineer to lead the technical direction and evolution of our distributed spacecraft ground control system. This is a high-impact, strategic leadership role. You'll define and drive the backend systems technical roadmap, lead cross-functional initiatives that span engineering, product, and operations, and establish the architectural foundations that will scale our distributed ground control platform for years to come. You'll identify strategic technical investments, champion them across the organization, and lead their execution. You won't just build features; you'll shape the product direction, influence company objectives, and mentor the engineers who will build the next generation of our platform. When you see systemic issues affecting reliability, velocity, or quality, you'll diagnose root causes, build consensus around solutions, and drive organizational change to address them. You do not need to have experience building space ground systems or experience in aerospace. You'll lead high-priority, greenfield initiatives with strategic importance to the company and a chance to fundamentally impact the outcome of future conflict (and the future of the company), all while enjoying world-class benefits including platinum healthcare, flexible work hours/location, highly competitive compensation and a generous stock options package. Responsibilities Lead and deliver large-scale, cross-functional distributed systems initiatives that align with strategic company objectives, from technical vision through production deployment and long-term evolutio Define and drive the Elixir/OTP systems roadmap and architectural strategy, establishing patterns, frameworks, and infrastructure that enable the entire engineering organization to move faste Serve as the primary technical decision-maker for distributed systems architecture, evaluating and adopting new technologies, and establishing engineering standards that balance innovation with maintainabilit Proactively identify systemic reliability risks, scalability challenges, and architectural limitations, then build business cases, secure buy-in, and lead multi-quarter initiatives to address the Elevate the engineering organization through technical mentorship, establishing best practices, leading design reviews, and developing the skills of senior, mid-level, and junior engineer Partner with executive leadership, product, design, frontend engineering, space operations, and astrodynamics teams as a key technical stakeholder, influencing product strategy and company directio Drive engineering efficiency and excellence by establishing metrics, tooling, and processes that improve system reliability, deployment velocity, and developer experienc Build and maintain technical documentation, architectural decision records, and knowledge-sharing systems that scale organizational learnin Represent the distributed systems engineering perspective in strategic planning, resource allocation, and cross-company technical decision Identify and develop emerging technical leaders within the team, creating growth pathways and opportunities for engineers to expand their impact What Success Looks Like In This Role You recognize that the team is repeatedly solving similar distributed systems problems in different ways; you design and champion a unified framework, drive its adoption across teams, and measure its impact on velocity and reliability You identify a fundamental scalability limitation in the ground control architecture before it becomes a crisis; you build a compelling case with data, present it to leadership, secure a quarter of engineering time, and lead the migration You're involved in early product strategy discussions, not just implementation; you're