Senior Software Engineer

FlightWave Aerospace is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to develop embedded software for autonomous aircraft and uncrewed aerial systems. This engineer will own production C and C++ software across microcontrollers and Linux-based application processors, integrate sensors and perception capabilities, and support systems from architecture and hardware bring-up through ground and flight test.

The ideal candidate brings recent VTOL, UAS, or other vehicle embedded-software experience; deep expertise in real-time and embedded Linux systems; and the judgment to diagnose issues spanning software, electronics, sensors, networks, and vehicle behavior. The role partners with electrical, systems, controls, autonomy, test, manufacturing, and flight-operations teams.

• Design, implement, review, and maintain embedded C and C++ software for microcontrollers, application processors, and heterogeneous aircraft edge-compute platforms.
• Own features from requirements and architecture through implementation, integration, verification, release, and ground or flight-test support.
• Develop board-support, device-interface, middleware, and application-layer software for real-time operating systems and embedded Linux.
• Integrate cameras, EO/IR payloads, IMUs, GNSS, radar, lidar, and other sensors with reliable data paths, time synchronization, health monitoring, and fault handling.
• Develop or integrate perception capabilities including detection, tracking, localization, visual odometry, mapping, calibration, and multi-sensor fusion as programs require.
• Optimize CPU, GPU, memory, I/O, startup, latency, throughput, and power while preserving deterministic behavior on critical paths.
• Define secure, stable interfaces among perception, autonomy, flight controls, vehicle management, communications, payloads, and operator applications.
• Diagnose cross-domain problems with target debuggers, traces, logic analyzers, telemetry, recorded sensor data, core dumps, and system logs.
• Build and maintain unit, integration, software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, regression, and performance tests.
• Analyze ground and flight data, drive defects to root cause, and establish measurable timing, memory, reliability, and functional acceptance criteria.
• Contribute to requirements traceability, design reviews, coding standards, configuration management, risk analysis, and program assurance evidence.
• Provide technical leadership through architecture decisions, code reviews, mentorship, planning, and multidisciplinary coordination.
• Deliver maintainable production software on target hardware with actionable logs, testable interfaces, and automated regression coverage.
• Support prototype and production integration, scheduled test events, and other duties aligned with the role as assigned.

• Experience integrating sensors or perception data on resource-constrained platforms, accounting for calibration, timing, dropped data, vibration, lighting, latency, and environmental failure modes.
• Experience taking software from design and hardware bring-up through bench testing, vehicle integration, and field or flight testing.
• Ability to create testable interfaces, automated tests, actionable logs, and measurable performance and reliability criteria.
• Ability to explain technical decisions, lead reviews, mentor engineers, and collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams.

• Direct VTOL, UAS, autopilot, flight-computer, or flight-control ecosystem experience, including PX4 or an equivalent platform.
• Aerial-vehicle perception experience in sensor fusion, visual-inertial odometry, SLAM, GNSS-denied navigation, object detection, tracking, or terrain-relative localization.
• Embedded computer-vision or machine-learning optimization using OpenCV, Eigen, CUDA, TensorRT, ONNX Runtime, or comparable technologies.
• Hands-on NXP, Qualcomm, or NVIDIA processor development, including board-support packages, acceleration frameworks, profiling tools, and development kits.
• Yocto Project, OpenEmbedded, Buildroot, custom Linux distributions, bootloaders, kernel configuration, or device-driver experience.
• Qt and QML development for operator-facing or engineering applications.
• Docker-based development or deployment workflows and cross-compilation for target hardware.
• Conan for C/C++ dependency management and JFrog Artifactory for binary artifacts.
• Python and GitLab CI/CD or comparable automated tooling for test, data analysis, builds, packaging, static analysis, and release.
• Familiarity with DO-178C, ARP4754A, DO-254 interfaces, MISRA C/C++, requirements-based testing, structural coverage, or similar safety-related methods.
• Secure boot, signed updates, trusted execution, platform hardening, or connected embedded-system cybersecurity experience.
• Agentic development tools or workflows for coding, testing, documentation, or log analysis, with security, traceability, review, and human accountability.

• Work with prototype and production hardware in laboratory, engineering, manufacturing, and flight-test environments.
• Travel to integration and flight-test sites as program schedules require; expected travel is 10% or less.
• Participate in scheduled test events or issue-response activities outside standard hours when necessary; specific expectations are defined before hire.
• Comply with applicable safety, security, export-control, information-handling, and facility-access procedures.