Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Flight Software

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

Job summary

A regional aircraft manufacturer in Los Angeles is seeking a Senior/Staff Software Engineer for their Flight Software Team, focusing on developing embedded software for their innovative hybrid-electric airplane. Responsibilities include leading design and implementation of complex systems, writing production-quality code, and mentoring junior engineers. Ideal candidates will have 5-8+ years of experience, strong communication skills, and a passion for aviation. The position offers a competitive salary range of $155,000 to $238,000 based on experience.

Qualifications

• 5-8+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
• Experience delivering technology to safety-critical applications.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of complex embedded software systems.
• Architect fault-tolerant and safety-critical software solutions.
• Write production-quality code in systems languages.
• Drive test strategy including automated testing.

Skills

Embedded software development

Fault tolerance mechanisms

Programming languages (Rust, C, C++, Python)

Test strategy and automation

Mentoring junior engineers

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

Embedded OS

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 of the development of the software on the aircraft. You will interface with other engineers to develop and understand requirements, architect, and write 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.
• Write production‑quality 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‑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.

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.