Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Flight Software

Heart Aerospace; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 238,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading aerospace company in Los Angeles seeks a Senior/Staff Software Engineer for the Flight Software Team. You will lead the development of complex embedded systems and architect fault-tolerant software solutions while mentoring junior engineers. Passion for aircraft and proven experience in critical applications are essential. This position offers a competitive salary ranging from $155,000 to $238,000 depending on level, with a commitment to innovation in hybrid-electric aviation.

Qualifications

• 5-8+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
• Delivered technology to mission-critical applications.
• Passionate about aircraft and vehicles.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of embedded software.
• Architect safety-critical software solutions.
• Mentor junior engineers.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines and integration testing.

Skills

Communication in English

Embedded systems programming

Fault-tolerant software architecture

Automated testing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering

Tools

Rust

C

C++

Python

Job description

Los Angeles, CA

At Heart Aerospace we are developing the ES-30, a regional hybrid-electric airplane with a capacity of 30 passengers, an electric zero-emission range of 200 km and an extended hybrid range of 400 km. Heart is targeting type certification of the ES-30 by the end of the decade.

Your mission

As a Senior/Staff Software Engineer on the Flight Software Team, you are responsible for all aspects the development of the software on the aircraft. You will interface with other engineers to develop and understand requirements, architect and writing high quality code, build tests and test infrastructure, documentation, and provide support through the software lifecycle. Part of your responsibility will be to lay the technological foundation for the aircraft software and supporting systems, including but not limited to implementing aircraft control functions on embedded systems, developing aircraft models and simulation tools, implementing critical fault tolerance mechanisms, and building hardware and software test systems. You will report to the Manager of Flight Software and collaborate with other engineers as part of a multi-functional team.

Key Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead design and implementation of complex embedded software systems.
• Architect fault-tolerant, safety-critical software solutions.
• Writing production-quality and developing code in systems languages such as Rust, C, C++, or Python.
• Drive test strategy including automated testing, data collection, and reporting.
• Mentor junior engineers and set best practices.
• Define software architecture and long-term technical strategy for embedded systems.
• Contribute to hardware/software interface requirements and system-level architecture and unit tests, CI/CD pipelines, and integration testing.
• Support simulation, modeling, and test activities.

You’ll Bring These Qualifications for Senior/Staff Software Engineer:

• 5-8+ years of professional experience.
• Track record of delivering novel technology to a safety, mission business critical application.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Passion for aircraft, vehicles, and the company mission.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline or obtaining Bachelors degree in the fields.

These Qualifications Would Be Nice to Have:

• Experience with embedded execution environments (microcontrollers, bare metal, RTOS, embedded OS).
• Experience modeling cyber-physical systems (e.g., 6-DoF simulators, Monte Carlo simulations, battery pack models).
• Experience with software and hardware test development including unit test, CI/CD pipelines, integration testing, automated testing, fuzzing, data collection, and report generation.
• Experience developing software under regulatory framework or functional safety standards e.g. DO-178C, ISO 26262, IEC 61508.

Base Pay Range:

• Senior Engineer: $155,000 —$193,000 USD.
• Staff Engineer: $190,000 —$238,000 USD.