Avionics Test Software Engineer, Senior, Staff

Description

The company develops and delivers advanced defense systems and is at an early stage, with a small team moving quickly.

The role is the technical owner of the software frameworks used to build, automate, run and analyze avionics hardware tests, from bring-up through production test.

You will work closely with avionics, electrical, software, test, manufacturing and systems engineers to turn test requirements into maintainable software.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture and technical direction of avionics test software, defining scalable patterns, interfaces, APIs and infrastructure that speed up hardware development and test runs.
• Design and build reusable frameworks, libraries, drivers and services so engineers and technicians can quickly write and run automated hardware tests.
• Set software architecture standards, development practices, coding standards, configuration management and design patterns for avionics test software.
• Build software interfaces to avionics hardware, instruments, data acquisition systems, power supplies, communication buses, databases and other test equipment.
• Work with avionics and flight software engineers to turn hardware, test and verification requirements into automated test designs and code.
• Create shared abstractions and reusable components for test sequencing, instrument control, hardware configuration, data acquisition, telemetry, logging, reporting and test results.
• Lead the build of test automation for bring-up, development testing, qualification, verification and production test, cutting test development and run time.
• Design the architecture for repeatable, deterministic test runs with strong fault handling, test recovery, and a clear way to tell hardware failures from test-system failures.
• Develop and maintain automated tests in Python and other suitable languages, prioritizing maintainability, reliability, extensibility and ease of use.
• Build the interfaces between test frameworks and engineering systems such as hardware configuration databases, test data systems, manufacturing systems and other enterprise tools.
• Set up automated build, test, validation and deployment, including version control, continuous integration, automated testing and code review.
• Lead technical reviews of test software, finding ways to improve reliability, scalability, development speed and long-term maintainability.
• Mentor test and other software engineers and set best practices, while still writing a substantial share of the code yourself.
• Troubleshoot complex software, hardware and integration problems during test runs, and lead root-cause investigations across the software and hardware boundary.
• Build software and data tools that improve test visibility, automate analysis, flag anomalies and speed up engineering decisions.
• Find and implement ways to cut manual test work, expand coverage, improve repeatability and shorten hardware test cycles.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of test efficiency, software quality, hardware reliability, development speed and overall engineering effectiveness.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in computer science, computer or electrical engineering, software engineering or a related technical field, plus 7+ years of relevant professional experience; or 10+ years of relevant professional experience in software development, test automation, avionics test or a related technical field.
• Strong professional experience building software for automated hardware testing, lab test systems, manufacturing test or hardware-in-the-loop environments.
• Demonstrated experience designing software architectures, frameworks, APIs or reusable platforms.
• Strong proficiency in Python or another modern programming language.
• Experience with version control, code review, automated testing, debugging and continuous integration.
• Experience writing software that interfaces directly with hardware, instruments or external systems.
• Experience building and maintaining relational and/or time-series databases for test data, telemetry, configuration and results, including schema design, SQL, data integrity, performance tuning and integration with test frameworks.
• Preferred: experience architecting test software for avionics, aerospace, defense, automotive, robotics or other complex hardware systems.
• Preferred: strong experience with Python test frameworks and tooling such as pytest, packaging, resource management, dependency management and automated testing.
• Preferred: experience building reusable hardware abstraction layers, instrument drivers, device interfaces, communication protocols and test APIs.
• Preferred: experience with avionics communication interfaces such as CAN, ARINC 429, MIL-STD-1553, Ethernet, RS-232/422/485, SPI, I2C or similar.
• Preferred: experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), automated test equipment (ATE) or lab automation systems.
• Preferred: experience with test sequencing architectures for complex, multi-step hardware procedures.
• Preferred: experience integrating test software with oscilloscopes, power supplies, electronic loads, data acquisition systems, signal generators, network analyzers and other lab instruments.
• Preferred: experience with distributed systems, networked test architectures, RPC frameworks, message-based systems or service-oriented architectures.
• Preferred: experience designing test data architectures, telemetry, structured logging, automated reporting and post-test analysis.
• Preferred: experience with CI/CD and tools such as Git, GitHub/GitLab, Jenkins, Docker or similar.
• Preferred: experience designing software for engineering labs, production test stations or distributed test environments.
• Preferred: experience with real-time systems, embedded software, firmware or low-level hardware interfaces.
• Preferred: experience setting software standards and mentoring engineers in a growing technical organization.
• Preferred: solid grounding in software architecture, object-oriented design, modularity, abstraction, dependency management and API design.
• Preferred: strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a focus on speed, reliability and practical results.
• Preferred: self-directed and adaptable, able to set priorities for technical work in a fast-moving hardware environment.
• Preferred: experience leading cross-functional technical work across software, electrical, avionics, test, manufacturing and systems teams.

Conditions

This role may require access to classified information or restricted U.S. Government sites, systems or information, as determined by the company and/or U.S. Government requirements. If it is designated that way, your employment may depend on obtaining and keeping a required U.S. Government security clearance or other authorization, and meeting any citizenship or other eligibility rules that apply. You will be told if and when these apply.

This role requires access to export-controlled information. Employment, or hiring of a contractor, depends on your ability to access that information without additional export licensing from the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

Other duties may be assigned, and the duties listed here are not exhaustive. They can change at any time, with or without notice.

Benefits

• The company offers a generous benefits package; details are at the bottom of its Careers page.