Senior Development Assurance Engineer

Merlin; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, life insurance

Unlimited vacation

401k with match

Equity opportunities

Job summary

Merlin Labs, a US-based aerospace and defense innovator, seeks a leader to own the Development Assurance process foundation for ARP4754B programs. You will guide requirements development, lead audits, and mentor teams across Autonomy and Flight Test operations.

You will collaborate with Systems Engineering to mature requirements from prototype to production, align with DO-178C/DO-254, and help scale a common requirements database across software baselines.

Qualifications

• 6-9 years of experience in Development Assurance with a Bachelor's degree, 4-6 years with a Master's degree, or 2-3 years with a PhD, in Engineering, Quality Assurance, or a related field
• Direct, hands-on experience developing, implementing, or auditing engineering processes under SAE ARP4754A/B and SAE ARP4761/A
• Experience partnering with Systems Engineering to develop and mature requirements sets across prototype through full production configurations
• Strong audit, technical writing, and communication skills, including experience training or mentoring engineers on process and compliance topics
• Experience working with regulatory agencies (FAA or equivalent) on Part 23, 25, or 29 certification projects, including Part 25 Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) experience
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams through complex development assurance solutions on challenging schedules
• Demonstrated independence in decision‑making, with the judgment to apply the right level of rigor to different projects rather than a single standard to everything

Responsibilities

• Assess existing processes and tools against ARP4754B to identify gaps and drive improvements
• Own the refinement, maintenance, and continuous improvement of Development Assurance process documentation compliant with SAE ARP4754B, scaled to different levels of rigor across program types
• Partner closely with Merlin's technology organization to advance focus areas: robust requirements, common database, DO-178C/DO-254 cross-training
• Build Development Assurance plans, audit plans, and process control plans for future certification programs
• Lead cross-functional teams through complex development assurance solutions on challenging program schedules
• Collaborate with Engineering to keep process specifications current as programs, tools, and regulatory guidance evolve
• Serve as a trainer, teacher, and mentor to engineering teams, building organization-wide fluency in development assurance standards

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

Jama

DOORS

Job description

About Merlin:

Merlin (NASDAQ: MRLN) is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company building a non-human pilot to deliver full-stack autonomy for any aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. The Merlin Pilot autonomy system powers a growing range of aircraft and mission profiles and has been proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from Merlin's global flight test facilities, including Kerikeri, New Zealand; Quonset Point, Rhode Island; and soon, Bedford, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Boston, Merlin is expanding its organization to accelerate the development and deployment of its autonomy platform, helping customers solve some of aviation's most pressing challenges, from pilot shortages to improving flight safety. Backed by some of the world's leading investors prior to its public listing, Merlin continues to advance the certification and commercialization of autonomous flight across commercial and defense aviation.

About You:

You have more than 7 years of experience applying development assurance discipline for complex integrated avionics systems focused on new and novel technologies in Part 25 aircraft type certification or supplemental type certifications. You know that the development assurance process is the driving factor in the success of these programs. You have personally written, audited, and defended development assurance process documentation with certification authorities. You are comfortable teaching a room of engineers why a process exists, and you have executed these processes under tight timelines. You have experience leading a team of systems engineers from early design concepts to define, validate, and verify certifiable requirements. You have led successful resolution of complex, ambiguous problems with minimal oversight, rallied cross-functional teams around tough challenges on tight schedules, and instinctively look for ways to make processes more efficient and repeatable across multiple programs along the way. In addition to development assurance experience, you are well versed in DO-178C, DO-254, and the systems engineering processes. Merlin Labs builds autonomous flight systems for civil and defense customers, and future certification programs will carry SAE ARP4754B in their certification basis. We are looking for leaders to own building the process foundation ahead of need. In this role, you will improve Merlin's ARP4754B-compliant development assurance processes, partner with Systems Engineering to mature requirements sets from prototype through full production configurations and help define the path toward a common requirements database that scales across software versions and deployments. Working closely with Merlin's entire technology organization, you will also cross-train into DO-178C and DO-254 compliance processes while teaching and mentoring engineering teams. You will report into the process assurance organization under the VP of Airworthiness & Certification.

Responsibilities:

• Assess existing processes and tools against ARP4754B to identify gaps and drive improvements
• Own the refinement, maintenance, and continuous improvement of Development Assurance process documentation compliant with SAE ARP4754B, scaled to different levels of rigor across program types
• Partner closely with Merlin's technology organization to advance the following focus areas:
  • Assist Systems Engineering in developing robust requirements sets spanning prototype through full production configurations
  • Define the path toward a common requirements database usable across multiple software versions and aircraft deployments
  • Cross-train in development assurance compliance for DO-178C and DO-254 to extend audit and process support beyond the systems level
  • Assist in standardizing and strengthening Merlin's problem reporting system
  • Support general Part 25 certification process development
  • Support and cross train in military airworthiness process improvements aligned with MIL-HDBK-516
• Build the Development Assurance plans, audit plans, and process control plans Merlin will need for future certification programs that carry ARP4754B in their certification basis
• Lead cross-functional teams through complex development assurance solutions on challenging program schedules
• Integrate development assurance processes into Merlin's institutional knowledge, partnering with engineering teams across Autonomy, Air Vehicle Integration, and Flight Test & Operations
• Serve as a trainer, teacher, and mentor to engineering teams, building organization-wide fluency in development assurance standards, expectations, and workflows - not just documenting them
• Conduct independent audits confirming engineering teams are following established Development Assurance processes, ahead of and during programs that require ARP4754B compliance
• Collaborate with Engineering to keep process specifications current as programs, tools, and regulatory guidance evolve

Qualifications:

• 6-9 years of experience in Development Assurance with a Bachelor's degree, 4-6 years with a Master's degree, or 2-3 years with a PhD, in Engineering, Quality Assurance, or a related field
• Direct, hands‑on experience developing, implementing, or auditing engineering processes under SAE ARP4754A/B and SAE ARP4761/A
• Experience partnering with Systems Engineering to develop and mature requirements sets across prototype through full production configurations
• Strong audit, technical writing, and communication skills, including experience training or mentoring engineers on process and compliance topics
• Experience working with regulatory agencies (FAA or equivalent) on Part 23, 25, or 29 certification projects, including Part 25 Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) experience
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams through complex development assurance solutions on challenging schedules
• Demonstrated independence in decision‑making, with the judgment to apply the right level of rigor to different projects rather than a single standard to everything

Nice to Haves:

• Development Assurance experience applied to avionics or autonomous flight systems
• Experience with Software Quality Assurance
• Start‑to‑finish Supplemental or Amended Type Certificate (STC/ATC) experience
• Experience standing up or scaling development assurance processes from scratch at a growing company
• Experience standing up or scaling development assurance processes from scratch at a growing company
• Experience with common requirements management tools (e.g., Jama, DOORS) across multiple software baselines or product configurations
• Experience with software/hardware development assurance compliance alongside systems‑level ARP4754B work

Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top‑tier benefits package (health, dental, life, unlimited vacation, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.

Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military service or obligation or disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background and reference checks.

At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or consider candidates who require visa transfers. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre‑employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to: [e-mail]

Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.

The compensation range provided is reflective of base salary only, and is a good- faith estimate based on a wide range of factors. The actual offer will be determined by a variety of factors including the candidate's qualifications, skills, experience, education, and training. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Merlin's total compensation package. Additionally, Merlin offers top‑tier benefits for full‑time employees.