Lead Embedded Software Engineer, C

Cirrus Selection Limited; Frampton Cotterell; On-site; GBP 62,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

Cirrus Selection Limited is seeking a Lead Embedded Software Engineer (C++, embedded C) based in Bristol. You will develop safety-critical embedded software for aerospace and defence, influencing architecture and design from day one.

The role blends hands-on delivery with technical leadership: mentor engineers, lead work packages, and liaise with customers. You’ll work across embedded and GUI software, RTOS environments, and contribute to DO-178C certification activities.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in C and C++ for embedded software systems.
• Proven track record developing software to interface with and control hardware.
• Comfortable across the full software development lifecycle, from requirements through to verification and validation.
• Experience with requirements management tools such as DOORS, Jama or Polarion.
• Confident managing multiple projects and improving legacy code.

Responsibilities

• Split between hands-on delivery and technical leadership; mentor engineers.
• Lead the technical delivery of work packages and represent software discipline with customers.
• Stay close to code, working on embedded and GUI software in C and C++, RTOS environments.
• Support certification activity against DO-178C and similar standards.

Skills

C/C++ embedded

Embedded software

HW interfacing

Lifecycle experience

Requirements management

Tools

DOORS

Jama

Polarion

Azure DevOps

Git

QNX RTOS

Job description

Lead Embedded Software Engineer, C++

Based in Bristol

Salary from £62,000 to £72,500, dependent on experience

If you've spent years writing embedded C and C++ for systems where the software actually has to work, not just pass a demo, this is worth five minutes of your time.

You'll be developing safety-critical embedded software for aerospace and defence applications, working across GUI and embedded software packages, and you'll have genuine influence over architecture and design decisions rather than just implementing someone else's. This is a small, highly capable engineering team, so your input carries weight from day one.

The role splits between hands-on delivery and technical leadership. You'll mentor less experienced engineers, lead the technical delivery of work packages, and represent the software discipline directly with customers. You'll also stay close to the code, working on embedded and GUI software in C and C++, RTOS environments, and supporting certification activity against DO-178C and similar standards.

This isn't a role where you'll be stuck maintaining one system for the next five years. You'll work across customer projects and internal product development, and you'll be comfortable moving between consultancy and product environments.

What you'll need:

• Strong experience in C and C++ for embedded software systems
• Proven track record developing software to interface with and control hardware
• Comfortable working across the full software development lifecycle, from requirements through to verification and validation
• Experience with requirements management tools such as DOORS, Jama or Polarion
• Confident working across multiple projects at once, and able to pick up and improve legacy code
• Due to the nature of the projects involved, you'll need to be a UK national for security clearance purposes

Nice to have, not essential:

• C# .NET and PC GUI development in Visual Studio
• Static code analysis (MISRA C/C++) and unit testing tools such as LDRA
• MATLAB/Simulink experience
• Familiarity with Azure DevOps, Git or Bitbucket
• RTOS experience with QNX
• Socket programming or UDP comms
• Previous experience leading a small software team