Job description

SPACE DATACENTER ARCHITECT | JOB DESCRIPTION Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in low Earth orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from powering on-orbit compute and transmitting energy via infrared lasers to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we are unlocking entirely new ways to operate in orbit and on Earth. Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), Cowboy Space Corp. is backed by leading investors and built by a team from top aerospace and defense organizations. We are moving quickly to solve complex technical challenges and build a new category of space infrastructure. The Role As the Space Datacenter Architect, you will own the end-to-end technical architecture that turns accelerator-class compute into flight-ready, commercially useful infrastructure. This is not a traditional spacecraft payload or a ground datacenter moved into orbit. You will reconcile useful compute throughput with power generation, heat rejection, radiation, mass, launch loads, limited serviceability, and autonomous recovery. Your scope spans compute, networking, storage, power, cooling, platform firmware, infrastructure software, security, reliability, and test. You will set subsystem boundaries and technical budgets, lead architecture reviews, and guide a multidisciplinary team from requirements through flight readiness. This hands-on technical leadership role is based in San Carlos, California. Responsibilities • Own the Space Datacenter architecture across hardware, firmware, software, and fault management. • Translate mission and customer workloads into requirements, interfaces, performance targets, technical budgets, and acceptance criteria. • Define node and cluster architectures, including failure domains and graceful-degradation behavior. • Drive quantitative trades across throughput, power, thermal margin, radiation risk, mass, cost, manufacturability, and schedule. • Establish interfaces for boot, provisioning, orchestration, observability, updates, fault isolation, and autonomous recovery. • Define qualification and recovery evidence with reliability, validation, and subsystem owners. • Lead architecture reviews, resolve cross-functional conflicts, and maintain requirements traceability. • Guide major platform and supplier decisions and communicate technical risk clearly to engineering and company leadership. Basic Qualifications • 10+ years architecting complex compute or other integrated hardware/software systems. • Experience taking a multidisciplinary system from requirements through integration and validation. • Experience with GPU, AI, HPC, or other accelerator-based systems at server, rack, or cluster scale. • Strong technical judgment across compute hardware, networking, storage, power, cooling, firmware, and infrastructure software. • Demonstrated ability to make high-consequence decisions using quantitative trades and test evidence. • Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. Preferred Qualifications • Experience designing or operating large GPU or HPC clusters. • Spaceflight, radiation, qualification, or other non-serviceable-system experience. • High-density liquid cooling and high-power electrical-distribution experience. • Experience with high-performance fabrics, AI storage, or workload orchestration. • Experience establishing a new platform architecture and supplier ecosystem. What You Will Accomplish In your first year, you will: • Establish the baseline Space Datacenter architecture, interfaces, and technical budgets. • Lead an integrated prototype to measurable compute, power, thermal, and recovery targets. • Deliver the qualification and flight-readiness framework used to make major program decisions. Compensation and Benefits The salary range for this position is $240,000 - $340,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity. • Equity in Cowboy Space Corp. • Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance. • 401(k) retirement savings plan. • Paid time off and 10 paid holidays per calendar year. • Paid parental leave. • Relocation assistance, if applicable. • Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks. ITAR Requirements Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here. Disclaimer This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.'s discretion. Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities, and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Requirements

Must-haves

Own the Space Datacenter architecture across hardware, firmware, software, and fault management.
Translate mission and customer workloads into requirements, interfaces, performance targets, technical budgets, and acceptance criteria.
Define node and cluster architectures, including failure domains and graceful-degradation behavior.
Drive quantitative trades across throughput, power, thermal margin, radiation risk, mass, cost, manufacturability, and schedule.
Establish interfaces for boot, provisioning, orchestration, observability, updates, fault isolation, and autonomous recovery.
Define qualification and recovery evidence with reliability, validation, and subsystem owners.
Lead architecture reviews, resolve cross-functional conflicts, and maintain requirements traceability.
Guide major platform and supplier decisions and communicate technical risk clearly to engineering and company leadership.
10+ years architecting complex compute or other integrated hardware/software systems.
Experience taking a multidisciplinary system from requirements through integration and validation.
Experience with GPU, AI, HPC, or other accelerator-based systems at server, rack, or cluster scale.
Strong technical judgment across compute hardware, networking, storage, power, cooling, firmware, and infrastructure software.
Demonstrated ability to make high-consequence decisions using quantitative trades and test evidence.
Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Establish the baseline Space Datacenter architecture, interfaces, and technical budgets.
Lead an integrated prototype to measurable compute, power, thermal, and recovery targets.
Deliver the qualification and flight-readiness framework used to make major program decisions.

Nice-to-haves

Experience designing or operating large GPU or HPC clusters.
Spaceflight, radiation, qualification, or other non-serviceable-system experience.
High-density liquid cooling and high-power electrical-distribution experience.
Experience with high-performance fabrics, AI storage, or workload orchestration.
Experience establishing a new platform architecture and supplier ecosystem.
What You Will Accomplish

Application prep

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Keywords to mirror

Platform: ashby
Effort: quick

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Dental

Vision

401(K)

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave