Lead, Platform Software

Neros Technologies; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 198,000 - 277,000; Full time

Job summary

Neros Technologies in Torrance, CA is seeking a Lead, Platform Software Engineer to own the embedded platform including Linux distribution, kernel, bootloader, runtime and SDK, and to drive the team delivering stable interfaces for flight, ground-station, and autonomy software.

You will hire, mentor, and set the platform roadmap while staying hands-on, enforcing CI/CD, and ensuring high engineering quality.

Qualifications

• Led a software team with both people management and technical direction.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the Platform Software engineering team, including hiring, mentorship, and performance management
• Own the roadmap and delivery of the embedded platform — Linux distribution and BSPs, kernel and bootloader, common runtime and libraries, and the cross-compile toolchain and SDK
• Run the platform as a product: keep interfaces stable, versioned, and evolving without breaking dependents
• Make hard architecture decisions — build vs. adopt, interface design, and resource allocation across subsystems
• Set and uphold engineering quality practices — code review, testing, and CI/CD
• Stay hands-on: review platform code and own architecture, not just process
• Lead on setting priorities with senior leadership and align platform goals with mission needs

Skills

Embedded leadership

Hands-on technical leadership

Platform thinking

Architectural decision making

Team growth

Stakeholder management

Tools

Yocto/Buildroot

Linux kernel

BSPs

Bootloaders

SDK

Job description

Neros is a defense technology company rebuilding America's drone industrial base. We design and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are tested in combat, iterated at startup speed, and built at massive scale. Our team culture is fast, hands-on, and obsessed with closing the gap between design and deployment.

As drones transform the character of warfare, Neros is delivering the systems the West needs to compete on the modern battlefield and deter the adversaries of democracy. We're hiring engineers, operators, and builders who want to move fast, take on extreme ownership, and get capability into the hands of warfighters in months, not years.

What you will be doing

Neros builds the embedded software that powers our drones and ground systems. As a Lead, Platform Software Engineer, you will build and lead the team that owns our foundational embedded platform — the Linux distribution, kernel, bootloader, common runtime, and SDK that our flight, ground-station, and autonomy software teams build on. You will own the platform's roadmap, reliability, and engineering quality while growing and leading the team behind it and treating every other engineering team as your customer.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the Platform Software engineering team, including hiring, mentorship, and performance management
• Own the roadmap and delivery of the embedded platform — Linux distribution and BSPs, kernel and bootloader, common runtime and libraries, and the cross-compile toolchain and SDK
• Run the platform as a product: keep the interfaces our flight, ground, and autonomy teams depend on stable, versioned, and evolving without breaking them
• Make the hard architecture calls — build vs. adopt, interface design, and resource allocation across subsystems
• Set and uphold engineering quality practices — code review, testing, and CI/CD — for foundational software
• Stay hands-on: review platform code and own architecture, not just process

You should have the following

• Has led a software team as a hands-on manager — owning both people management and technical direction
• Deep embedded-platform background: custom Linux (Yocto/Buildroot), kernel/BSPs, bootloaders, and the runtime/SDK layer other teams build on
• Track record of running a platform or foundational-software team as a product — stable interfaces, versioning, and consumer teams who could depend on it
• Strong judgment on build-vs-adopt, interface design, and resource trade-offs across an embedded system
• Able to operate as the interface between the team and senior leadership — managing expectations upward and clearing execution blockers
• Player-coach: still technically credible enough to review BSP/kernel/runtime code and make architecture calls

Nice to Have

• Experience building an embedded platform team from a small nucleus
• MCU/RTOS platform work alongside embedded Linux
• Bazel or comparable build-system leadership across cross-compiled targets
• Real-time, safety-relevant, or mission-critical embedded platforms
• Background bringing up new computer platforms from prototype to production

US Salary Range

$198,000 - $277,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Neros' total compensation package.

We're an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Export Compliance: The person hired will have access to information and items controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), and, therefore, must be a "U.S. Person" or otherwise eligible to receive an export license. As defined in the ITAR, a "U.S. Person" includes U.S. citizens, noncitizen U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain other classes of individuals (e.g., asylees/refugees). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a "U.S. Person." To assist Neros in assessing its export compliance obligations in relation to your application, please identify which statement best applies to you: * Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Neros Technologies’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.