Principal Architect: Ground Autonomy & Distributed Systems

Strativ Group; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Strativ Group is seeking a Principal Software Architect to lead the software architecture for ground automation and fleet management across cloud, edge, and embedded environments. This senior role emphasizes highly available distributed systems, security, and regulatory compliance for aerospace operations.

You will guide design decisions, drive CI/CD and testing strategies, and ensure cross-disciplinary collaboration with engineering, safety, and operations teams to deliver resilient, scalable

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing large-scale distributed systems with high availability and resilience.
• Expertise in cloud-native architecture, Kubernetes, containerisation, serverless computing, and microservices.
• Strong knowledge of distributed communications technologies, including Protobuf.
• Significant experience in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), DevSecOps, and Chaos Engineering.
• Deep understanding of Zero-Trust security architecture, PKI, and cybersecurity best practices.
• Proven experience leading software architecture for complex, safety-critical or mission-critical environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and the ability to communicate complex technical concepts across multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience integrating with airspace management, autonomous systems, or aviation APIs.
• Background in aerospace, UAVs, autonomous platforms, defence, robotics, or other highly regulated industries.
• Exposure to AI-assisted security analysis or advanced cybersecurity research.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

Responsibilities

• Define the architecture for scalable ground automation and fleet management platforms.
• Design geographically distributed systems with high availability, redundancy, and automated failover capabilities.
• Develop secure cloud and edge computing architectures for mission-critical operations.
• Lead integration with external airspace management and regulatory systems.
• Design resilient operational frameworks capable of maintaining functionality during partial system failures.
• Implement Zero-Trust security principles, PKI infrastructure, and modern cybersecurity best practices.
• Architect deployment frameworks supporting navigation, health monitoring, risk assessment, and automation services.
• Drive modern CI/CD strategies including automated testing, deployment validation, rollback, and release management.
• Develop sensor fusion and state estimation architectures to improve operational awareness and decision-making.
• Collaborate with engineering, software, operations, and safety teams to ensure scalable, compliant solutions.

Skills

Distributed systems

Cloud-native architecture

Kubernetes

Protobuf

SRE

DevSecOps

Chaos Engineering

Zero-Trust security

PKI

CI/CD

Security engineering

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science / Software Engineering / Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Kubernetes

Protobuf

PKI infrastructure

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Strativ Group is seeking a Principal Software Architect to lead the software architecture for ground automation and fleet management across cloud, edge, and embedded environments. This senior role emphasizes highly available distributed systems, security, and regulatory compliance for aerospace operations.

You will guide design decisions, drive CI/CD and testing strategies, and ensure cross-disciplinary collaboration with engineering, safety, and operations teams to deliver resilient, scalable