Senior Manufacturing Software Architect & Automation Lead

PDW; Huntsville (TN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

BCBS medical coverage

401K with company match

Parental leave

On-site gym

Life insurance

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Generous PTO & flexible leave

Job summary

PDW in Huntsville, AL is seeking an experienced software engineering leader for manufacturing test systems. You will design, deploy, and sustain production software for test, diagnostics, telemetry, and hardware validation across multiple production stages.

The role requires expert Python and Linux skills, plus experience with CI/CD, hardware interfaces, and data storage for manufacturing analytics. Collaboration with cross-functional teams and mentoring of junior staff are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related technical field.
• 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering, manufacturing automation, robotics, embedded systems, or production test environments, including technical leadership of complex systems.
• Strong proficiency in Python and at least one additional scripting or systems language such as Bash, PowerShell, or C/C++.
• Experience designing scalable automated manufacturing test systems, reusable hardware test frameworks, and hardware-in-the-loop validation infrastructure.
• Deep expertise in Linux-based systems administration, deployment automation, networking, security, system services, and package management in production engineering or manufacturing environments.
• Experience with software configuration management, source control, CI/CD practices, and release management workflows.
• Familiarity with hardware interfaces and communication protocols such as UART, CAN, Ethernet, USB, I2C, SPI, or serial communications.
• Strong understanding of robotics, drones, electromechanical systems, embedded hardware, or autonomous systems.
• Experience troubleshooting integrated hardware/software systems in fast-paced production environments.
• Proficiency with data serialization and transport technologies such as JSON, Protobuf, REST interfaces, or similar frameworks.
• Ability to interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and technical documentation.
• Excellent analytical, debugging, communication, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives and drive projects and teams with minimal oversight.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, SQLite, TimescaleDB, InfluxDB, or similar data storage systems used for manufacturing traceability and analytics.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, implementation, deployment, and sustainment of manufacturing test software systems across production stages.
• Architect scalable software frameworks for automated production test fixtures, diagnostics, telemetry, and validation workflows.
• Own software configuration management, deployment pipelines, version control, and release processes for manufacturing environments.
• Develop robust automation tools and scripts using Python, Bash, PowerShell, or similar technologies.
• Design and maintain Linux-based manufacturing systems including user management, networking, and system hardening.
• Collaborate with electrical, firmware, and mechanical teams to integrate software with embedded systems and test instrumentation.
• Drive root-cause analysis investigations related to manufacturing defects and test failures.
• Establish software validation methodologies ensuring production systems meet requirements and quality standards.
• Improve throughput, test coverage, traceability, and process repeatability through automation and data-driven decisions.
• Develop tools for data collection, serialization, logging, and transport across systems to track as-built configurations.
• Mentor junior engineers and manufacturing personnel on software best practices.
• Contribute to long-term manufacturing software strategy and tooling standardization.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to improve reliability and operational efficiency.
• Support deployment, troubleshooting, training, and sustainment activities across environments.
• Partner with product engineering to improve design-for-manufacturability.

Skills

Python

Bash

PowerShell

C/C++

Linux admin

CI/CD

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related field

Tools

Qt Framework

PyQt/PySide

PostgreSQL

SQLite

TimescaleDB

InfluxDB

Job description

PDW in Huntsville, AL is seeking an experienced software engineering leader for manufacturing test systems. You will design, deploy, and sustain production software for test, diagnostics, telemetry, and hardware validation across multiple production stages.

The role requires expert Python and Linux skills, plus experience with CI/CD, hardware interfaces, and data storage for manufacturing analytics. Collaboration with cross-functional teams and mentoring of junior staff are essential.