Engineering Manager - UAS Simulation Platform

FireStorm Labs; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) plan

Equity grants

Unlimited PTO

Holiday calendar

Parental leave

Lifestyle spending

FSA/DCFSA/HSA

Insurance coverage

Mental health resources

Job summary

FireStorm Labs in San Diego, CA, is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the Simulation team and build the software, infrastructure, and tools for UAS simulation. You will take ownership of an existing simulation capability and grow it into a reusable platform that supports development, testing, training, and demonstrations.

The role requires 8+ years in software/simulation, 3+ years leading teams, and hands-on experience with Gazebo/JSBSim/AirSim.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software, simulation, robotics, or related engineering experience
• 3+ years leading software engineering teams
• U.S. person required due to ITAR regulations
• Hands‑on experience building or integrating simulation systems for aircraft, UAS, robotics, or other complex physical systems
• Experience with Gazebo,JSBSim,AirSim,FlightGear, or similar simulation frameworks
• Strong C++ and Python or similar software engineering experience
• Experience with SIL, HIL, or other integrated simulation environments
• Experience integrating flight software, vehicle models, sensors, actuators, or hardware interfaces into simulation
• Strong build,packaging, deployment, and distribution of applications across multiple OS.
• Experience building automated, reproducible simulation or test environments
• Demonstrated ability to debug complex problems across simulation, software, networking, and hardware boundaries

Responsibilities

• Lead the Simulation team — Own the team responsible foraircraftsimulation infrastructure, tools, models, and integrations.
• Build the simulation platform — Develop a reusable simulation capability acrossaircraft, payloads, sensors, propulsion systems, and compute configurations.
• Enable software development and test — Provide interactive and headless environments used byaircraftsoftware teams and automated SIL/HIL test systems.
• Build scenario orchestration — Develop tools for defining, configuring, executing, and replayingaircraftand mission scenarios.
• Scale simulation execution — Build infrastructure for repeatable local, CI, and distributed simulation runs.
• Integrate theaircraftstack — Connect flight software, autonomy, vehicle models, sensors, actuators, communications, and otheraircraftsystems into simulation.
• Support training and demonstrations — Build simulation capabilities that can be used for operator training, mission development, and customer demonstrations.
• Grow the team — Hire and develop engineers with strong simulation, software, and UAS fundamentals.

Skills

Software leadership

Simulation engineering

C++

Python

UAS knowledge

Problem solving

System integration

Debugging skills

Tools

Gazebo

JSBSim

AirSim

FlightGear

Job description

FireStorm Labs in San Diego, CA, is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the Simulation team and build the software, infrastructure, and tools for UAS simulation. You will take ownership of an existing simulation capability and grow it into a reusable platform that supports development, testing, training, and demonstrations.

The role requires 8+ years in software/simulation, 3+ years leading teams, and hands-on experience with Gazebo/JSBSim/AirSim.