Senior Application Architect

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others - with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers - we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we'd love for you to apply.

Our Enterprise Systems team builds the digital backbone that powers K2 Space's satellite design, manufacturing, and mission operations. We develop tools that connect engineering, production, finance, and mission control into a seamless ecosystem. Enabling our hardware to get from concept to orbit faster than ever before.

We're looking for a Senior Application Architect who is curious, collaborative, and driven to deliver mission-critical platforms and tools that turn ambitious projects into reality.

Responsibilities

• Conduct technical and operational discovery with internal customers to define requirements, dependencies, and implementation risks.
• Translate financial and business problems into implementation roadmaps for commercial products.
• Work with third-party vendors to implement commercial products and ensure optimal configuration of COTS platforms; oversee vendor relationships and maintain alignment with K2 Space priorities.
• Hold vendors accountable to schedules and budgets, knowing when to escalate and when to course-correct.
• Lead data validation and UAT efforts: identifying root causes, resolving data mismatches, transformation issues, and load failures. As well as confirming solutions perform across data quality, access, functionality, and performance dimensions.
• Communicate complex concepts clearly to both technical and operational stakeholders spanning networking, security, deployment, user authentication, and system design.
• Manage multi-threaded, complex projects and succinctly convey progress against goals and milestones.
• Execute system upgrades, patches, and change management processes with minimal disruption to operations.
• Serve as the voice of the customer to internal stakeholders across engineering, finance, sales, and product.
• Operate independently on ambiguous projects while balancing multiple concurrent workstreams, making sound tradeoff decisions grounded in core technical concepts.
• Apply AI and emerging technologies to accelerate analysis, documentation, troubleshooting, and execution (with strong judgment and attention to accuracy).
• Document and maintain technical artifacts including system architecture diagrams and user guides.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, a STEM discipline, or 10+ years of professional experience in a related technical role.
• 8+ years architecting systems with distributed cloud architecture (AWS preferred but open to Azure, Google Cloud Platform), in-depth knowledge of integration for modern API (RESTful or gRPC).
• 4+ years leading complex enterprise platform implementations for ERP or CRM systems (MS Dynamics 365, Odoo, or comparable modern platforms).
• 3+ years in an internal customer-facing role driving technical project leadership.
• Experience with one or more of the following: enterprise resource systems, supply chain systems, financial management and reporting, payment processing technologies, analytics platforms, or CRM systems.

Nice to Have

• Experience with financial processes and financial domain knowledge.
• Experience writing complex SQL queries and working with structured data.
• Experience with C# and API integrations.
• Proficiency with relational databases such as MSSQL or PostgreSQL.
• Track record of leading outcomes-focused conversations with internal business stakeholders.
• Experience translating business requirements into clear technical specs for cross-functional engineering teams.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced startup environment and navigating ambiguity.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Base salary range for this role is $150,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision/ coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you don't meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, "U.S. Persons" include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., s), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a "U.S. Person."

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a "U.S. person" as defined by 22 C.F.R. 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Equal Opportunity

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.