Senior Software Engineer

FlightWave Aerospace - A Red Cat Company; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 183,000; Full time

Job summary

FlightWave Aerospace is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to develop embedded software for autonomous aircraft and uncrewed systems. You will own C and C++ production code across microcontrollers and Linux-based processors, integrating sensors and perception capabilities toward ground and flight testing.

This role requires deep real-time and embedded Linux expertise, plus the ability to lead cross‑functional reviews and provide mentorship while delivering reliable, deterministic software for

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in a relevant engineering field.
• 7+ years of professional software development, including embedded aircraft/vehicle experience.
• Advanced embedded C and modern C++ with attention to memory and performance.
• Production experience for microcontrollers and application processors (ARM Cortex-M/A).
• RTOS and embedded Linux experience with debugging and system-level insight.
• Vehicle interfaces such as DroneCAN/CAN, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART and related protocols.
• Sensor/perception data integration on resource-constrained platforms with timing and latency considerations.
• End-to-end software lifecycle from design through field testing.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, review, and maintain embedded C/C++ software across platforms.
• Own features from requirements through ground or flight-test support.
• Develop board-support, device-interface, middleware, and application software for RTOS/Embedded Linux.
• Integrate cameras, EO/IR, IMUs, GNSS, radar, lidar with reliable data paths and synchronization.
• Develop perception capabilities including detection, tracking, localization, and multi-sensor fusion.
• Optimize CPU/GPU/memory/I/O while preserving deterministic behavior on critical paths.
• Define secure interfaces among perception, autonomy, flight controls, and operator apps.
• Diagnose cross-domain issues with debuggers, traces, telemetry, and core dumps.
• Build and maintain unit/integration/ HIL/ regression/ performance tests.
• Analyze flight data, drive defects to root cause, and set acceptance criteria.
• Provide technical leadership through reviews, mentorship, and planning.

Skills

Embedded C/C++

RTOS & Embedded Linux

Microcontrollers & ARM Cortex

Sensors & perception data integration

Vehicle interfaces (CAN, Ethernet, SPI

I2C/UART/GPIO

Real-time systems debugging

Testable interfaces & automated tests

Leadership & cross-disciplinaryCollab

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or related field

Job description

Position Summary

FlightWave Aerospace is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to develop embedded software for autonomous aircraft and uncrewed aerial systems. This engineer will own production C and C++ software across microcontrollers and Linux-based application processors, integrate sensors and perception capabilities, and support systems from architecture and hardware bring-up through ground and flight test. The ideal candidate brings recent VTOL, UAS, or other vehicle embedded-software experience; deep expertise in real-time and embedded Linux systems; and the judgment to diagnose issues spanning software, electronics, sensors, networks, and vehicle behavior. The role partners with electrical, systems, controls, autonomy, test, manufacturing, and flight-operations teams.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

Essential functions of a job that are crucial to its purpose and must be performed regularly. They are the fundamental tasks that an employee must be able to carry out, with or without reasonable accommodation, and are central to defining the role’s purpose.

• Design, implement, review, and maintain embedded C and C++ software for microcontrollers, application processors, and heterogeneous aircraft edge-compute platforms.
• Own features from requirements and architecture through implementation, integration, verification, release, and ground or flight-test support.
• Develop board-support, device-interface, middleware, and application-layer software for real-time operating systems and embedded Linux.
• Integrate cameras, EO/IR payloads, IMUs, GNSS, radar, lidar, and other sensors with reliable data paths, time synchronization, health monitoring, and fault handling.
• Develop or integrate perception capabilities including detection, tracking, localization, visual odometry, mapping, calibration, and multi-sensor fusion as programs require.
• Optimize CPU, GPU, memory, I/O, startup, latency, throughput, and power while preserving deterministic behavior on critical paths.
• Define secure, stable interfaces among perception, autonomy, flight controls, vehicle management, communications, payloads, and operator applications.
• Diagnose cross-domain problems with target debuggers, traces, logic analyzers, telemetry, recorded sensor data, core dumps, and system logs.
• Build and maintain unit, integration, software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, regression, and performance tests.
• Analyze ground and flight data, drive defects to root cause, and establish measurable timing, memory, reliability, and functional acceptance criteria.
• Contribute to requirements traceability, design reviews, coding standards, configuration management, risk analysis, and program assurance evidence.
• Provide technical leadership through architecture decisions, code reviews, mentorship, planning, and multidisciplinary coordination.
• Deliver maintainable production software on target hardware with actionable logs, testable interfaces, and automated regression coverage.
• Support prototype and production integration, scheduled test events, and other duties aligned with the role as assigned.

Required Qualifications

– The following qualifications are required for any position:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Seven or more years of professional software development, including recent hands‑on embedded development of aircraft, VTOL/UAS, autonomous vehicles, embedded systems, robotics, or comparable vehicle platforms.
• Advanced embedded C and modern C++ proficiency, including object lifetime, ownership, concurrency, integer behavior, memory layout, performance, and undefined‑behavior avoidance.
• Production experience developing for both microcontrollers and application processors, such as ARM Cortex-M and Cortex-A class devices or comparable architectures.
• Experience with an RTOS and embedded Linux, including scheduling, multithreading, IPC, boot flow, device interfaces, and system‑level debugging.
• Experience with vehicle and board interfaces such as DroneCAN/CAN/CAN FD, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART, MavLINK, BDShot, and GPIO, plus related transport or messaging protocols.
• Experience integrating sensors or perception data on resource‑constrained platforms, accounting for calibration, timing, dropped data, vibration, lighting, latency, and environmental failure modes.
• Experience taking software from design and hardware bring‑up through bench testing, vehicle integration, and field or flight testing.
• Ability to create testable interfaces, automated tests, actionable logs, and measurable performance and reliability criteria.
• Ability to explain technical decisions, lead reviews, mentor engineers, and collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams.

Additional Desired Qualifications

– The requirements below are desired knowledge, skills and/or abilities we desire but not required.

• Direct VTOL, UAS, autopilot, flight‑computer, or flight‑control ecosystem experience, including PX4 or an equivalent platform.
• Aerial‑vehicle perception experience in sensor fusion, visual‑inertial odometry, SLAM, GNSS‑denied navigation, object detection, tracking, or terrain‑relative localization.
• Embedded computer‑vision or machine‑learning optimization using OpenCV, Eigen, CUDA, TensorRT, ONNX Runtime, or comparable technologies.
• Hands‑on NXP, Qualcomm, or NVIDIA processor development, including board‑support packages, acceleration frameworks, profiling tools, and development kits.
• Yocto Project, OpenEmbedded, Buildroot, custom Linux distributions, bootloaders, kernel configuration, or device‑driver experience.
• Qt and QML development for operator‑facing or engineering applications.
• Docker‑based development or deployment workflows and cross‑compilation for target hardware.
• Conan for C/C++ dependency management and JFrog Artifactory for binary artifacts.
• Python and GitLab CI/CD or comparable automated tooling for test, data analysis, builds, packaging, static analysis, and release.
• Familiarity with DO‑178C, ARP4754A, DO‑254 interfaces, MISRA C/C++, requirements‑based testing, structural coverage, or similar safety‑related methods.
• Secure boot, signed updates, trusted execution, platform hardening, or connected embedded‑system cybersecurity experience.
• Agentic development tools or workflows for coding, testing, documentation, or log analysis, with security, traceability, review, and human accountability.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

– The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• Work with prototype and production hardware in laboratory, engineering, manufacturing, and flight‑test environments.
• Travel to integration and flight‑test sites as program schedules require; expected travel is 10% or less.
• Participate in scheduled test events or issue‑response activities outside standard hours when necessary; specific expectations are defined before hire.
• Comply with applicable safety, security, export‑control, information‑handling, and facility‑access procedures.

Background Check

This position will require successfully completing a post‑offer background check. Qualified candidates with a criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal and state law.

EEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure

Red Cat Holdings provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identification or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Successful candidates for positions subject to ITAR/EAR restrictions must provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence and must not require sponsorship for export‑restricted work authorization.

E-Verify

The company participates E-Verify ensure eligibility for employment and compliance with Right to Work rules.

Compensation: Salary range: 132K – 183K plus equity and possible bonuses