Senior Embedded Software Engineer - Real-Time Systems

Draper Labs; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 82,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work-life balance programs

Employee clubs and activities

Health and finance workshops

Discounts to local museums and events

Job summary

Draper is seeking a software engineer to develop embedded real-time avionics systems in Cambridge, MA. The role covers the full software lifecycle from design through testing and deployment on mission-critical platforms.

The candidate should have 5–10 years of software engineering experience, strong C/C++, and exposure to RTOS environments. A bachelor's in CS or related field is required; a master's is preferred. The position requires on-site work in Cambridge and eventual security clearance.

Qualifications

• Embedded software development experience in real-time systems.
• Experience with device drivers, boot code, and embedded buses/protocols (CAN, I2C, SPI, Serial, SpaceWire, 1553).
• Knowledge of OS techniques, testing, and safety-related standards is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develop high-performance embedded software for resource-constrained targets.
• Lead architecture of subsystems and mentor junior staff.
• Lead a small team of software developers on projects.
• Communicate requirements and deliverables with customers and stakeholders.
• Drive risk mitigation and contribute to process improvements.

Skills

Curiosity-driven

Learning new languages/technologies

Collaboration

Team player

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

RISC-V

Ultrascale+ (Arm) processors

RTOS (VxWorks, Integrity, embedded Linux, Zephyr, FreeRTOS)

GCC

LLVM

QEMU

JTAG

Job description

Draper is seeking a software engineer to develop embedded real-time avionics systems in Cambridge, MA. The role covers the full software lifecycle from design through testing and deployment on mission-critical platforms.

The candidate should have 5–10 years of software engineering experience, strong C/C++, and exposure to RTOS environments. A bachelor's in CS or related field is required; a master's is preferred. The position requires on-site work in Cambridge and eventual security clearance.