Lead Flight Software Engineer

Description

The company is building advanced defense systems at speed, and the team is growing around that goal.

This is an early-stage role with real ownership, working alongside strong engineers, where your work has a visible effect on the company's direction.

As Lead Flight Software Engineer, you will be a senior technical leader in the Flight Software group, working directly with the Head of Flight Software. You will shape architecture, set engineering direction, and make sure mission-critical embedded software across the vehicle stack ships reliably. You will own complex subsystems, mentor engineers, coordinate work across functions, and set the pace for the team. The role suits people who have deep technical skill, can lead others, influence system-level choices, and work well in a fast-moving environment where hardware and software are tightly linked.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Head of Flight Software to set system architecture, software design patterns, module interfaces, and the long-term technical plan across embedded systems, autonomy, drivers, simulation, and applications.
• Lead in-depth investigations into reliability, performance, and integration problems in the software.
• Design, build, and integrate embedded software for Linux and real-time systems, owning high-impact subsystems from concept through flight testing.
• Debug on hardware, bring up boards, and validate systems where hardware and software interface closely.
• Act as the day-to-day technical lead for the embedded software team: mentor engineers, review designs and code, and advise on implementation.
• Split complex projects into clear milestones, track progress, and keep execution high-quality. Support the career growth of team members.
• Coordinate with avionics, guidance, hardware, simulation, and test teams so software matches system requirements. Represent the embedded software team in program reviews, technical discussions, and mission planning.
• Lead software integration across virtual environments, hardware-in-the-loop rigs, and full vehicle setups. Build or guide testing tools, automation, and simulation models, and lead root-cause analysis of complex failures with system-level fixes.
• Own major technical initiatives that affect vehicle capability, autonomy, performance, or reliability. Allocate resources, manage risk, and deliver mission-critical software on schedule. Support integration and launch work at test sites when needed.
• Raise engineering standards for code quality, design reviews, documentation, and testing. Encourage high ownership, fast iteration, and ongoing improvement across the software organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, or a related STEM field.
• 7+ years of professional experience in embedded software or real-time systems.
• Strong skill in C++, Rust, or a similar systems language.
• Experience building software on Linux-based embedded platforms, including kernel work or custom drivers for interfaces such as UART, I2C, and SPI.
• Experience leading technical projects, designing complex systems, or acting as a team or technical lead.
• Strong ability to debug across hardware and software boundaries.
• Preferred: technical leadership at high-performance or mission-critical hardware-software organizations in defense, aerospace, robotics, automotive, or similar fields.
• Preferred: hands-on work with real-time systems, microcontrollers (ARM, PowerPC, x86), and distributed embedded architectures.
• Preferred: deep Linux internals knowledge, including performance tuning, networking, and system-level diagnostics.
• Preferred: a track record of mentoring engineers, giving feedback, raising standards, and running design reviews.
• Preferred: experience aligning multidisciplinary teams and shaping system-wide decisions.
• Preferred: ability to prototype quickly, weigh tradeoffs, and test ideas from first principles.

Conditions

The position may require access to classified information or restricted U.S. Government sites, systems, or information, as decided by the company and/or applicable U.S. Government requirements. If so designated, employment may depend on obtaining and keeping the required U.S. Government security clearance or other government authorization, and on meeting any citizenship or other eligibility rules set by law, regulation, executive order, or contract. You will be told if and when these apply.

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

The company is an equal opportunity employer.

Benefits

• A generous benefits package. Details are at the bottom of the Careers page.