Senior Flight Software Engineer at Poseidon Aerospace Alameda, CA

Poseidon Aerospace; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Early-stage equity

Relocation assistance

Health benefits

401(k) retirement matching

Flexible PTO

Free meals and snacks

AI tools access

Travel to flight test site

Job summary

Poseidon Aerospace seeks an experienced flight software engineer to own the architecture of major subsystems, design deterministic real-time embedded software in C++, and coordinate interfaces with avionics, GNC, and flight test.

You will lead testing strategies across unit, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop environments, implement fault-detection and redundancy management, mentor other engineers, and travel to flight test sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of professional C or C++ development on embedded, real-time, or safety-critical systems.
• Experience owning a flight software subsystem from architecture through fielded operation.
• Experience taking software through hardware integration and testing on a real vehicle.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture of major flight software subsystems from requirements to fielded operation.
• Design and implement deterministic, real-time embedded flight software in C++.
• Develop fault detection, redundancy management, and degraded modes.
• Define software interfaces with avionics, GNC, and flight test and trace to tests.
• Implement GNC algorithms in flight code and verify against simulation.
• Lead software integration, testing, and ground/flight test support.
• Mentor other flight software engineers and set coding standards.

Skills

C/C++

Embedded real-time systems

Flight software

Leadership

Testing and verification

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

RTOS

Bare-metal development

DO-178C or ISO 26262

Python tooling

Job description

Responsibilities

Own the architecture of major flight software subsystems, including timing, partitioning, and redundancy. Design and implement deterministic, real-time embedded flight software in C++. Design fault detection and response, including redundancy management, degraded modes, and lost-link behavior. Define software requirements and interfaces with avionics, GNC, and flight test, and trace them to tests. Implement GNC algorithms in flight code and verify them against simulation. Set testing strategy across unit tests, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop testing. Build telemetry, logging, and command paths between the aircraft and ground station. Lead aircraft software integration and support ground and flight testing, including travel to the flight test site. Set coding standards and review practices, lead design reviews, and mentor other flight software engineers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of professional C or C++ development on embedded, real-time, or safety-critical systems.
• Experience owning a flight software subsystem or equivalent from architecture through fielded operation.
• Experience taking software through hardware integration and testing on a real vehicle such as an aircraft, spacecraft, or automotive vehicle.
• Experience designing fault detection and response for systems where failure had safety consequences.
• Experience leading design reviews and setting technical direction for other engineers.

Preferred

• flight software experience on aircraft or spacecraft;
• RTOS or bare-metal development;
• redundant or fault-tolerant flight computer architecture experience;
• DO-178C or ISO 26262 experience;
• flight or vehicle test campaign experience;
• Python for tooling, test automation, and flight data analysis;
• clear technical writing.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity.
• Relocation support if applicable.
• Employee health benefit plans.
• 6% retirement matching.
• Flexible PTO.
• Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at company offices.
• AI tools and subscriptions.
• The role includes travel to the flight test site.