V&V and Operations Tools Developer

Location: This role will be onsite in our Broomfield, Colorado office. 
Travel: Up to 5%
Job ID:  556

About Skyloom 

Skyloom, an IonQ company, is a telecommunications company founded with the mission to develop, deploy, and operate one of the fundamental pieces of tomorrow's space communication infrastructure to provide data transport services on a planetary scale. If you have a strong sense of purpose, focus, urgency, and willingness to compete, or if working on space lasers excites you, join our team to develop the future generation of space communication technology.

What Makes Skyloom Unique?    

Skyloom is building the orbital infrastructure for the next renaissance in global connectivity. As Earth’s first space-based telecommunications company, we deliver fiberless, planetary-scale data transport that dramatically increases bandwidth, availability, and resiliency—while reducing latency and total cost of operations.

Our proprietary optical technology enables secure, ultra-high-capacity connections across our end-to-end, multi-orbit network or within your own infrastructure, unlocking a new standard for global communications.

The Role

We are seeking a V&V and Operations Tools Developer to design, build, and maintain the critical software infrastructure and tooling required for the early design verification, system deliveries validation, and operational monitoring of our flight systems. This role is fundamental to achieving mission assurance by automating testing, supporting complex physical testbeds involving external sensors and actuators, and facilitating early hardware/software integration.

Responsibilities 

• Develop high-quality, robust automation scripts and tools to support early hardware integration testing and interface verification.
• Apply Object- Oriented Programming(OOP) principles to design scalable and reusable software libraries for hardware interface communication and complex data acquisition from the testbed.
• Design and implement automated test sequences for health integration and performance verification of flight systems, analyzing feedback loops, sensor readings, and actuator responsiveness.
• Manage and configure the physical testbed infrastructure, including integrating and calibrating external sensors, actuators, and instrumentation required for comprehensive system testing.
• Develop and maintain the tools and framework necessary to execute Hardwarein-the-Loop (HIL) testing, including environment simulation, real-time data injection, and automated fault insertion.
• Implement minimal services to facilitate data handling, instrument control, and integration between various V&V tools in a distributed physical testbed environment.
• Utilize Docker to containerize development, testing, and V&V environments, ensuring consistency and reproducibility across the organization.
• Administer and maintain Linux operating systems that host the V&V testbeds, simulation platforms, and operational tools.
• Configure and troubleshoot networking protocols and services (TCP/IP, UDP, etc.) to ensure reliable connectivity between test equipment, flight hardware interfaces, and data centers.

Qualifications

• Systemic Mindset: Ability to view the flight system and its V&V testbed not as separate components, but as an integrated system, understanding dependencies, interfaces, and optimizing end-to-end performance.
• Python: Advanced proficiency for tool development and scripting. 
• Strong understanding and application of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP).
• Linux: Experience as user, basic administration for troubleshooting in various distributions.
• Bash scripting for system automation and pipeline execution.
• Experience with Docker for containerizing environments.
• Minimal experience designing or interacting with REST microservice.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Observability Stacks (e.g., ELK/Influx/Grafana) for monitoring testbed health, data logging, and visualizing operational metrics.
• Prior experience in the validation of control software or safety-critical systems.
• Familiarity with data analysis libraries such as Pandas and plotting libraries like Matplotlib for analyzing sensor and performance data.
• Understanding of Distributed Systems architecture and challenges.
• Documentation Automation: Experience integrating documentation tools like Sphinx, Asciidoc or Markdown.

Compensation 

The approximate base salary range for this position is $114,477 - $150,248. The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site.   

Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity.  Posted base salary figures are subject to change as new market data becomes available. 

Benefits/Perks 

• In addition to an opportunity to take part in an innovative, collaborative and fast-growing business with a highly motivated and skilled team, we also take pride in taking care of our employees. Here are just a few ways that we show our appreciation:
  • We provide extensive medical coverage, including strong vision and dental plans, flexible spending accounts, and additional supplemental health options.
  • Paid Time Off Policy
  • 401(k) Plan 
  • Mental Health Resources
  • Furry friends? We’ve got you covered with with pet insurance options 
  • Legal insurance options also available

Equal Opportunity Statement 

At IonQ, we believe in fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all, and we strive to identify and eliminate barriers. We empower employees to thrive by fostering a culture of autonomy, productivity, and respect. We are dedicated to creating an environment where individuals can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.  
  
We are committed to equity and justice. We welcome different voices and viewpoints and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.