Senior Platform Engineer – Avionics, OTA & Cloud

GCS Recruitment; Kirkland (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

GCS Recruitment Specialists seeks a hands-on senior software engineer for a platform/middleware role in aviation tech. You will design, implement, and ship core platform modules, focusing on cabin network management, OTA updates, and device-to-cloud telemetry across fleet systems.

You will drive architecture decisions, review code, and collaborate with avionics, cloud, and security teams. The role requires 6+ years of production software experience, strong Linux/C++ and Python on real devices,

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional software development with architectural leadership.
• Strong Linux-based development on real devices (C/C++ and/or Python).
• Solid networking fundamentals: VLANs, routing, QoS, troubleshooting.
• Experience with device-to-cloud telemetry and fleet management.
• Experience building OTA/firmware pipelines (signing, staged rollout, rollback).
• Containers and modern CI/testing practices (Docker; Kubernetes a plus).
• Ability to work autonomously with clear documentation and good judgment.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement core platform modules for cabin network management and observability.
• Build OTA software lifecycle pipeline with cryptographic updates and rollback.
• Develop telemetry and device-to-cloud data pipelines for fleet monitoring.
• Integrate software across cabin hardware platforms with portable abstraction layers.
• Create and run unit/integration/hardware-in-the-loop tests.
• Contribute to interface definitions and architecture reviews.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Linux

Networking fundamentals

OTA/firmware pipelines

Telemetry & health monitoring

Device-to-cloud systems

CI/CD practices

Architectural leadership

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Job description

The Role

This is a hands-on senior engineering role at the platform/middleware layer. The high-level architecture is in place - your job is to build, integrate, and ship against it. You will work in a team that blends avionics, enterprise networking, cloud, and embedded backgrounds, with a dedicated security engineering team supporting the platform. Modern AI-assisted development tooling is used extensively.

What you'll do:

• Design and implement core platform modules - cabin network management (VLAN-based traffic segmentation and prioritization across passenger, crew, and airline operational services), connectivity monitoring, and observability.

• Build and maintain the over-the-air (OTA) software lifecycle pipeline: cryptographically validated updates, staged activation, automatic rollback, and version reporting to ground-side fleet systems.

• Develop telemetry and health-monitoring infrastructure, including the device-to-cloud data pipeline for fleet monitoring.

• Integrate software across multiple cabin hardware platforms, maintaining hardware abstraction layers for portability.

• Build and execute unit, integration, requirements-based, and hardware-in-the-loop tests.

• Contribute to interface definitions and architecture decision records, and raise the bar through code reviews and design feedback.

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 6+ years of professional software development experience, with several years leading design or architecture of production systems.

• Strong Linux-based software development on real devices - C/C++ and/or Python.

• Solid networking fundamentals: VLANs, routing, QoS / traffic prioritization, and network troubleshooting.

• Experience with device-to-cloud systems: telemetry, health monitoring, or fleet/device management.

• Experience building or operating software update pipelines (OTA/firmware: signing, staged rollout, rollback).

• Containers (Docker; Kubernetes a plus) and modern CI/testing practices.

• Comfort with ambiguity and autonomy - an early-stage program where strong engineering judgment and clear documentation matter as much as implementation skill.

Nice to have:

• Background in in-flight connectivity, satellite communications, avionics, or other safety-adjacent embedded domains.

• Familiarity with DO-178C software lifecycle (certification itself not required) or avionics interfaces such as ARINC 429.

• Security engineering exposure: cryptography, secure boot, threat modeling, identity and access controls.

• Experience with carrier-grade CPE/gateway software (e.g., RDK, OpenWrt, prpl) - this maps directly to the work.

GCS is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.