Senior Software Developer

Avy; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 61,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited time off

Amsterdam office

Maker space

Sauna

Great lunches

Drinks and get-togethers

Clear path to Engineering Principal

Job summary

Avy is seeking a senior engineer who loves flying and can own the flight control and state estimation software. You will work on the PX4 autopilot, iterating from control loops to low-level firmware and hardware interfaces, while mentoring teammates and shaping technical direction.

You’ll operate in a small, international team that moves fast, tests on real aircraft, and grows with the company toward an Engineering Principal role. Amsterdam office available.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field.
• 10+ years of software development experience, including at least 7 years of professional C/C++.
• Solid knowledge of control theory and state estimation: cascaded and PID control, Kalman filtering, sensor fusion.

Responsibilities

• Owning the flight control and state estimation software on our PX4-based autopilot: the control loops for hover, transition and fixed-wing flight, and the estimation behind them.
• Making our drone fly longer and more stable by improving stability, reliability, performance and endurance.
• Learning from every flight by analysing logs and data to identify root causes and improvements.
• Raising the bar by coaching engineers, leading design and code reviews, and improving coding standards and workflows.
• Working with hardware, flight performance and flight test across disciplines on real aircraft.

Skills

C/C++

Control theory

Kalman filtering

Embedded firmware

Robotics/drones

Software architecture

Mentoring

Project management

Flight control

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant field

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

MAVLink

ROS/ROS2

Python

CI/CD

Job description

Imagine writing code in the morning and watching it fly in the afternoon. At Avy, every line you write ends up on a real aircraft. Our drones fly long-range missions for emergency services, so your software helps save lives every day.

We’re looking for a very experienced engineer who loves anything that flies. You know control theory inside out, you understand flight control software better than almost anyone, and you know what it takes to make a drone fly safely on its own, all the way down to the firmware. You’ll join a small team where your ideas go straight into the aircraft, and where other engineers grow by working with you.

What you'll be doing

• Owning how our drone flies. You’ll own the flight control and state estimation software on our PX4-based autopilot: the control loops for hover, transition and fixed-wing flight, and the estimation behind them.
• Making our drone fly longer and more stably. You’ll dig into existing software, from control loops down to low-level firmware and hardware interfaces, to improve stability, reliability, performance and endurance. Every gain you find means longer, safer flights.
• Learning from every flight. When a flight doesn’t go as expected, you’ll analyse the logs and data, find the root cause and work out what needs to change in the software or the aircraft. Then you make it better.
• Raising the bar for the team. You’ll coach other engineers, lead design and code reviews, and improve our coding standards and workflows. You’ll work closely with our Engineering Manager on technical leadership.
• Working shoulder to shoulder with hardware, flight performance and flight test. You’ll plan and run technical projects across disciplines, test your work on real aircraft and see the results right away.

A small team with real influence

You’ll join a small, multidisciplinary engineering team that owns the complete system of a flying aircraft. There are no layers of management and no waiting months for a decision. As a senior engineer you’ll have a direct say in technical direction and how we build software, and you’ll be the person others learn from. You enjoy making others better: sharing what you know, giving honest feedback and keeping projects on track.Your decisions will show up in the air within weeks, not years. For the right person, there’s a clear path to growing into an Engineering Principal role.

Sounds like you?

Maybe you’ve always been fascinated by things that fly, and nothing beats the moment a drone takes off running code you wrote. Flight control software feels familiar territory, and making an aircraft fly autonomously and reliably is a puzzle you love to solve.

A good mystery helps too, like working out why a drone behaved differently than expected, and finding the fix that makes the next flight better. Here, quality and safety come naturally, because the aircraft really leave the ground. Add a small, international team that loves to experiment and shares the occasional surprise during a flight test, and we think you’ll feel right at home.

What you bring

• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field
• 10+ years of software development experience, including at least 7 years of professional C/C++
• Solid knowledge of control theory and state estimation: cascaded and PID control, Kalman filtering, sensor fusion
• Experience with embedded firmware and real-time systems, working close to sensors, actuators and hardware interfaces
• A clear connection to robotics, drones, aerospace or autonomous systems
• Strong grasp of software architecture for systems with many interacting components, and comfort working in large existing codebases
• Experience coaching engineers and raising code quality and ways of working, with good communication skills
• Good project management skills: you plan, estimate and keep work across disciplines on track

Bonus points (we'd love to see at least two):

Big plus: PX4 or ArduPilot experience · fixed-wing or VTOL flight control

Bonus points: Python for tooling and testing · simulation (SITL/HITL) · MAVLink · ROS/ROS2 · CI/CD pipelines

Missing a few? If you learn fast and the domain excites you, we'll happily help you grow into it.

What we offer

• Work that matters: your software supports emergency services and helps save lives.
• The front line of aviation: you'll work on advanced long-range drone systems that are already flying.
• A competitive salary: the salary range is €5,500 - €7,000, depending on experience.
• Unlimited time off , with respect for your team and shared priorities.
• An inspiring office in Amsterdam with a maker space, a sauna and great lunches.
• Startup energy with aviation-grade professionalism: freedom, fast growth and a culture where we learn from mistakes.
• A warm, fun team with regular drinks, get-togethers and celebrations.
• Room to grow: a clear path towards an Engineering Principal role.

About Avy

Avy builds unmanned aviation technology for emergency services and life-saving applications. We're an award-winning scale-up that combines a garage-startup mindset with the discipline of a professional, safety-first aviation organisation. Our partners are among the first in the world to make long-range drone operations part of their daily work.