Senior Embedded Flight Software Architect

Trident Systems; Fairfax (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 222,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits (Medical/Dental/Vision

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Tuition reimbursement

Annual discretionary bonus

Job summary

Trident Systems in Fairfax, VA seeks a Principal Software Systems Engineer (Embedded Flight Systems) to define, develop, integrate, and verify software-intensive aerospace systems for flight and flight-like environments.

The ideal candidate has real-time embedded software experience, hardware/software integration expertise, and leadership in agile software development while upholding rigorous engineering, traceability, and mission assurance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in relevant engineering field as listed.
• Minimum 9 years of experience in software systems engineering, embedded software, avionics, flight systems, or related aerospace/defense development.
• Experience with real-time embedded software, requirements development, decomposition, traceability, and verification.
• Experience with hardware/software integration and debug.
• Familiarity with systems engineering lifecycle, formal technical reviews, and agile development environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Decompose system requirements into software functional, performance, interface, and verification requirements.
• Maintain traceability across stakeholder needs, requirements, architecture, implementation, and test artifacts.
• Define software-related interfaces for avionics, sensors, payloads, actuators, buses, and ground systems.
• Support architecture development with attention to timing, fault handling, determinism, and operational constraints.
• Participate in major technical reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR).
• Develop verification strategies, test methods, and acceptance criteria aligned with system requirements.
• Assess technical risk, identify gaps early, and support mitigation planning.
• Collaborate with software, firmware, electronics, and test teams to develop integrated flight solutions.
• Support embedded software development and hardware/software integration in labs, testbeds, and flight-like environments.
• Troubleshoot issues across software, firmware, interfaces, and electronics to identify root cause and drive resolution.
• Provide leadership in agile software development for embedded and mission-critical software teams.

Skills

Real-time embedded software

Systems engineering

Agile leadership

Effective communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Systems/Software/Computer/Electrical/Aerospace Engineering or related field

Job description

Trident Systems in Fairfax, VA seeks a Principal Software Systems Engineer (Embedded Flight Systems) to define, develop, integrate, and verify software-intensive aerospace systems for flight and flight-like environments.

The ideal candidate has real-time embedded software experience, hardware/software integration expertise, and leadership in agile software development while upholding rigorous engineering, traceability, and mission assurance.