Software Engineer in Test— Embedded Systems

SiFly; Çankaya; On-site; TRY 360,000 - 540,000; Full time

Job summary

SiFly Aviation seeks a Software Engineer in Test to build automated testing for Q12 builds. You’ll own the bench in Ankara, write regression tests for flight software and autonomy, and triage failures. Collaborate with the SQA Lead in Santa Clara and multiple engineering teams to embed quality in development.

The role focuses on test automation, CI integration, and hardware-in-the-loop work on a near-term hardware program in a fast-moving startup environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related program.
• Strong Python for test automation, logging, orchestration, and tooling.
• Advanced English and strong written/verbal communication.

Responsibilities

• Write automated regression tests for flight software, autonomy, MAVLink interfaces, and video pipelines.
• Build and maintain SITL/HITL scenarios for takeoff/landing and mission execution.
• Triage failures, log artifacts, and route issues to the right owners.

Skills

Python

CI/CD

Linux

Test design

Git

Debugging

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related

Tools

SITL

HITL

MAVLink

ROS

PX4

Job description

We are looking for a Software Engineer in Test to build the automated testing that decides whether a Q12 build is ready to fly. This is a hands-on, technical role focused on test automation: writing the regression suites that run on every change, keeping the simulation and bench infrastructure that runs them healthy, and turning problems seen in real flights into tests that catch them next time.

You will join a quality function that is being built out rather than maintained. Today one engineer covers end-to-end system testing; you will be the automation half of that team, working alongside them and reporting to our SQA Lead. There is a lot of ground with no coverage yet, which means real scope to decide how testing works here rather than inheriting someone else's framework.

About SiFly Aviation

At SiFly, we’re building a new category of aircraft: vertical-takeoff, long-endurance drones that deliver helicopter-level performance at drone economics. After thousands of flight tests and years of engineering, our NDAA-compliant platform flies more than 2 hours in hover or 3 hours in forward flight on a single charge — matching the capability of traditional helicopters at a fraction of their cost and operational burden. We merge aerial robotics, perception, and onboard intelligence to cut complexity and minimize human intervention, and our unique approach to communications and networking unlocks remote operations from day one. It’s an ambitious mission, and we’re a small team that moves fast.

The role

You will spend most of your time writing tests and the infrastructure they run on: automated regression across flight software, autonomy, MAVLink interfaces, camera and video pipelines, connectivity and failover, over-the-air updates, and the operator-facing apps. You will own the bench and simulation setups in Ankara, keep them faithful enough to real aircraft that a green result means something, and triage the failures that come out of them — including the system-level factory test code that validates a finished aircraft on the production line.

You will work closely with the SQA Lead in Santa Clara, the QA engineer already covering end-to-end testing, and the flight-software, embedded platform, autonomy, and applications teams whose changes you gate — close enough to development that quality is part of everyday work rather than a step at the end.

What you’ll do

• Build the automated regression suites. Design and write automated tests covering flight software, autonomy features, MAVLink interfaces, camera and video pipelines (H.264/HEVC, WHIP/WHEP), the detect-and-avoid stack, telemetry, and operator workflows — and keep them fast and trustworthy enough to run on every change.
• Run simulation and bench scenarios. Build and maintain SITL and HITL scenario tests for takeoff and landing, mission execution, failsafes, detect-and-avoid, GPS degradation, sensor noise, comms delays, and the long tail of edge cases — and flag where simulation stops matching the aircraft.
• Keep the test infrastructure running. Wire tests into CI so they trigger automatically, run nightly and batch validation jobs, and deploy simulator and test instances locally and on remote servers so any engineer can run a meaningful test without booking aircraft time.
• Own the bench in Ankara. Set up and maintain the hardware test rigs, keep them representative of current aircraft configuration, and make them available to the rest of engineering rather than a resource only you can use.
• Test the full connected system. Multi-link connectivity and failover across 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and Wi-Fi HaLow; over-the-air update and rollback via Mender; cloud and backend integration over MQTT and REST; and the Pilot, Crew, HQ, and mobile apps against the embedded platform.
• Turn field problems into regression tests. Capture and organize logs, MAVLink and telemetry, video, and perception output from real flights, reproduce the failure, and land it in the automated suite so it stays fixed.
• Own the system-level factory test code. Work with manufacturing on the functional test scripts that validate a built aircraft on the production line, so factory test has a real owner inside quality engineering.
• Triage and route failures. Do first-pass triage on failing runs, produce failure artifacts and logs that make the cause obvious, and route each issue to the right owner quickly instead of adding it to a list.
• Test by hand where automation cannot reach. Run exploratory and end-to-end testing on real aircraft and pre-release checks, and write clear, reproducible reports on what you find.

Required experience

• Minimum 3+ years of professional experience writing software — as a software engineer who moved into testing, or as a test engineer who writes production-quality code. This is an engineering role: you will spend your days writing and reviewing code, not executing test scripts.
• A bachelor’s degree or higher in a related program — Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or similar.
• Strong Python. For test automation, log analysis, orchestration, and tooling — you write test code the way you would write product code, and expect it to be reviewed.
• Test design. You can take a feature and work out what actually needs testing: boundary and edge cases, failure modes, and pass/fail criteria that hold up — then write it down as a test plan and a reproducible bug report.
• Linux and system-level debugging. Comfortable owning quality across a distributed system: debugging across processes, containers, networks, and the hardware/software boundary on Linux.
• CI and version control. Practical experience wiring tests into CI — GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar — and working day to day in Git with code review.
• Hardware proximity. Some exposure to embedded, robotic, or hardware-in-the-loop testing, or enough curiosity and aptitude to get there quickly — this role is on the bench as much as at a desk.
• Expected to be heavy user of AI and to be aware of AI development workflows.
• Advanced English language skills and strong written and verbal communication — able to coordinate clearly with the SQA Lead and the wider team in Santa Clara.
• Based in or able to relocate to Ankara — this is an on-site role with regular hands-on aircraft and bench work.

Nice to have

MAVLink, ROS, PX4, or comparable autopilot and robotics stacks · SITL, HITL, or hardware-in-the-loop testing of embedded systems · Gazebo, Isaac Sim, AirSim, or game-engine-based simulators · RTSP, GStreamer, or WebRTC video testing and camera simulation · the pytest ecosystem, or comparable frameworks used seriously · Docker and cloud-based CI/CD · OTA testing with Mender, and Yocto or embedded Linux · network emulation and connectivity failure injection · manufacturing or production functional test experience · flight-log analysis and telemetry tooling · QA dashboards, log viewers, or failure-triage tooling · familiarity with UAV regulatory context such as Remote ID and ADS-B · a valid SHGM (Turkish DGCA) remote-pilot licence for the Q12’s İHA weight class — İHA1 (4–25 kg) or İHA2 (25–150 kg) — ideally with beyond-visual-line-of-sight authorization.

What success looks like

• Automated regression runs on every change, and a green result is trusted well enough that nobody quietly re-tests by hand afterwards.
• Any engineer can spin up a representative test locally or on the bench in minutes, without booking an aircraft.
• Bugs found in the field land in the regression suite within days, not quarters, and stay fixed.
• Connectivity failover, OTA update and rollback, video workflows, and operator actions are exercised safely and repeatably before any real flight.
• Factory functional test has a real owner, and production can validate a built aircraft without pulling engineers off development.
• Failures arrive at the right owner with the logs and artifacts already attached — and the SQA Lead can rely on your results without re-verifying them.

Details

• Job type: Remote contract-based employment.
• Location: On-site position in Ankara, Turkey — working closely with our Santa Clara team.