Senior/Principal Software Engineer

Radiance Technologies, Inc.; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Radiance Technologies seeks a seasoned Senior/Principal Software Engineer to lead software architecture for GNC on advanced missile systems. You will bridge flight dynamics theory with real-time embedded execution, owning architecture and verification across HWIL simulations and live-fire campaigns.

Your role includes VV&A leadership, model-based design workflows, and collaboration with flight-test teams to ensure mission success.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering in aerospace/defense or missile systems.
• Advanced degree in CS/EE/related field preferred.
• Strong real-time embedded software background in C/C++ with RTOS.
• Experience with GNC, flight dynamics, and 6-DOF simulations.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, integration and verification of missile/guided-projectile software.
• Manage HWIL labs and real-time simulation environments.

Skills

C/C++

GNC/flight dynamics

RTOS

HWIL/simulation

Python/MATLAB

DO-178C/safety

Git/SVN

Jira/DOORS

Education

B.S./M.S./Ph.D. in a related technical field

Tools

dSPACE

NI PXI/CompactRIO

Speedgoat

Job description

Radiance Technologies, a rapidly growing employee-owned company, is seeking a seasoned Senior/Principal Software Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, and verification of software for advanced missile and guided-projectile systems. In this role, you will be the bridge between flight dynamics theory and real-time embedded execution, owning the software architecture for Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), managing complex Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) simulation labs, and supporting end-to-end flight test campaigns.

Key Responsibilities

1. GNC & Embedded Software Development Design, implement, integrate, and verify mission-critical missile software, focusing heavily on GNC algorithms, autopilot loops, and flight control laws. Translate complex mathematical flight dynamics models into high-performance, deterministic, real-time code. Utilize Model-Based Design (MBD) frameworks (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink auto-coding) to transition control algorithms seamlessly into target hardware.
2. Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) & Simulation Management Architect, maintain, and expand HWIL test environments, integrating flight computers, inertial measurement units (IMUs), actuation systems, and sensor suites. Plan and execute rigorous HWIL test campaigns to validate software performance against simulated aerodynamic threats, target profiles, and environmental disturbances. Troubleshoot complex, multi-domain system failures spanning software logic, digital/analog signal interfaces, and physical hardware behavior.
3. Verification, Validation, & Accreditation (VV&A) Lead VV&A activities for simulation environments, software-only test beds, and HWIL facilities to ensure high fidelity and traceability to system requirements. Develop automated test scripts and regression suites to support continuous integration and rapid deployment of software updates.
4. Pre-Flight Support & Mission Planning Collaborate with systems engineering and flight test teams to execute pre-flight activities, including missile flyout predictions, trajectory simulations, and safety analysis. Define and optimize Restricted Operating Zones (ROZ), range safety limits, and mission scripts for live-fire or captive-carry tests.
5. Field Deployment & Discrepancy Resolution Apply deep flight-dynamics and systems-level knowledge to root-cause analysis, anomaly investigation, and discrepancy resolution during test execution. Deploy to remote test ranges, proving grounds, or integration facilities as required to support pre-test checkouts, launch operations, and post-flight data reduction.

Required Qualifications & Technical Stack Experience

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience specifically within aerospace, defense, or missile systems.
• Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Core Programming Languages: Advanced proficiency in C and C++ for real-time embedded environments; familiarity with Python or MATLAB for scripting and analysis.
• Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS): Experience developing safety-critical software on RTOS platforms (e.g., VxWorks, Linux with PREEMPT_RT).
• Domain Knowledge: Strong working knowledge of flight dynamics, 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) simulation, aerodynamics, and control theory.
• HWIL & Lab Equipment: Proven background managing HWIL labs using real-time simulation hardware (e.g., dSPACE, National Instruments PXI/CompactRIO, Speedgoat) and communication protocols (MIL-STD-1553, Ethernet/UDP, ARINC 429, RS-422).
• Clearance: Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret.
• Desired Qualifications Experience with safety-critical software development standards (e.g., DO-178C or equivalent military standards).
• Familiarity with Agile development workflows, configuration management tools (Git, SVN), and requirements traceability tools (DOORS, Jira).
• Hands-on experience with sensor simulation or seeker-in-the-loop (SIL) testing.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Radiance Technologies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

Our Growth

Our growth is creating great opportunities! Our team is expanding, and we want to hire the most talented people we can. Continued success depends on it!

Employee-Ownership

Radiance is a proud employee-owned company! Employee-ownership benefits both our customers and workforce, and ensures that Radiance doesn’t have to answer to stockholders or be driven by quarterly earnings reports. Thus, Radiance will always prioritize enhancing our customer’s mission over expanding our bottom line. We are singularly focused on providing our customers with game-changing solutions to their most challenging requirements. This is only possible because employee-ownership attracts the highest quality employees, empowers them to identify capability enhancements, and provides them with the freedom to take risks to deliver high-quality solutions. Employee-ownership also provides tangible and long-term financial security for our people and their families. Therefore, employee-ownership embodies participation, empowerment, freedom, teaming, excellence, accountability, mission focus, and security.

Our Culture

Radiance’s culture is driven by our commitment to our customers and our employee-owners. Our employee-owners thrive on entrepreneurship, empowerment, and mutual responsibility for growth and sustainability. Our culture consists of individuals who embody technical and leadership skills to deliver superior solutions to the nation’s toughest technical challenges. We believe building trust and credibility with our customers leads to long-term results. We invest in a superior technical workforce where leaders are developed, innovation is encouraged, and achievements are recognized. We seek innovative ways to improve, experiment, take risks, foster collaboration, and empower our employee-owners.

Our Values

Our values drive our culture, business model, and daily interactions. These values constantly remind us of who we are and what we do. Our employee-owners influence how we operate our business. We relentlessly pursue operating excellence by innovating, improving our processes, and reducing waste. We believe in being wise and ethical stewards of capital and resources. Our values dictate how we interact with each other and our customers, partners, and suppliers. Honesty, trust, humanity, alignment, and value creation require that we treat our employees with dignity and respect and provide them with fair compensation and equal employment opportunity. We believe in connecting with our communities and have a responsibility to be good corporate citizens, and we believe in sustainable business practices, which include supporting the environment and the communities in which we work.