Senior PX4 Developer — Relocate to El Segundo, CA

Make Rain; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Rainmaker seeks a seasoned software engineer to advance drone autonomy in El Segundo, California. You’ll contribute to the autonomy stack end-to-end, extending PX4 firmware for custom flight behaviors and developing firmware for embedded targets.

Ideal candidates have 3+ years with PX4/ArduPilot, Rust plus C++ or Python, and experience with PX4 peripherals, MAVLink, and real-time pub/sub middleware. Relocation to El Segundo is welcomed and encouraged.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of professional experience developing software for PX4/ArduPilot systems.
• Experience shipping production code in Rust, plus C++ or Python.
• Experience developing firmware for ESP32, RP2040, or similar embedded targets.
• Comfort with low-level peripheral buses: CAN, UART, I2C, SPI.
• Experience with real-time pub/sub middleware (Zenoh, DDS, ROS 2, MQTT, or similar).
• Working knowledge of MAVLink and typical autopilot integration patterns.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to our drone autonomy software stack end-to-end as a domain expert
• Modify and extend PX4 firmware for custom use cases and flight behaviors
• Develop firmware for embedded systems across power, peripherals, and sensing
• Support simulation-based testing in Gazebo, HITL, and SITL environments
• Assist with flight test support, log analysis, and software debugging

Skills

Rust programming

C++ programming

Python programming

Embedded systems development

Drone software experience

Tools

PX4 firmware

ArduPilot

ESP32

RP2040

Gazebo

HITL

SITL

MAVLink

ROS 2

Zenoh

DDS

MQTT

Job description

Rainmaker builds systems to make it rain. Our autonomous drone fleets and weather modification platform operate worldwide: expanding freshwater supplies, protecting agriculture, and proving that cloud seeding works at scale.

You are:

• A seasoned software engineer with a background in drone autonomy

• Fast, thoughtful, autonomous, and opinionated

• Willing to relocate to El Segundo, California

What you’ll work on:

• Contribute to our drone autonomy software stack end-to-end as a domain expert

• Modify and extend PX4 firmware for custom use cases and flight behaviors

• Develop firmware for embedded systems across power, peripherals, and sensing

• Support simulation-based testing in Gazebo, HITL, and SITL environments

• Assist with flight test support, log analysis, and software debugging

What we’re looking for:

• 3+ years of professional experience developing software for PX4/ArduPilot systems

• Experience shipping production code in Rust, plus C++ or Python

• Experience developing firmware for ESP32, RP2040, or similar embedded targets

• Comfort with low-level peripheral buses: CAN, UART, I2C, SPI

• Experience with real-time pub/sub middleware (Zenoh, DDS, ROS 2, MQTT, or similar)

• Working knowledge of MAVLink and typical autopilot integration patterns

Rainmaker is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Rainmaker is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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