Software Engineering Manager – Autonomous Avionics Test Systems

Shieldai; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Software Engineering Manager to lead the X-BAT Hardware Test Software team, building and sustaining automated production test stands for avionics and aircraft electrical assemblies.

You will guide Python-based test frameworks, station-control software, data-collection, and pass/fail reporting while partnering with electrical, mechanical, and FPGA groups to ensure reliable production testing.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, test automation, embedded systems, hardware-integrated software, or related fields.
• 2+ years of direct people-management experience leading software, test, or hardware-integration engineers.
• Demonstrated experience building, deploying, and sustaining automated functional-test systems for complex hardware.
• Strong Python experience for automation frameworks, hardware communication, data acquisition, and test orchestration.
• Experience with C++ or C in embedded, systems, device-control, or hardware-facing applications.
• Experience working with electrical hardware, test fixtures, instrumentation, and devices under test.
• Familiarity with FPGA-enabled hardware and working with FPGA engineers on system-level test and debug.
• Familiarity with interfaces/protocols such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, UDP, serial, CAN, SPI, I2C, USB, GPIO, PCIe, or JTAG.
• Experience with Git, code review, automated testing, CI/CD, release management, and configuration control.
• Strong communication skills across software, electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, and program teams.
• Experience developing automated production test equipment for avionics, aerospace, defense, autonomous systems, robotics, or mission-critical hardware.
• Experience designing reusable test frameworks beyond one-off scripts.
• Experience with programmable power supplies, DAQ systems, digital I/O, network equipment, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or custom fixtures.
• Experience with FPGA programming, bitstream management, register-level control, JTAG, board bring-up, or FPGA-adjacent debugging.
• Experience with embedded Linux, microcontrollers, board-support packages, device drivers, or real-time systems.
• Experience with production traceability, serial-number tracking, test-result databases, calibration workflows, manufacturing systems, or quality systems.
• Experience in regulated, safety-critical, mission-critical, or configuration-controlled engineering environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of software engineers supporting X-BAT avionics production test.
• Own the technical roadmap and execution for automated test stands, reusable test frameworks, station software, and test-data systems.
• Build scalable Python-based software for test sequencing, instrument and fixture control, unit-under-test communication, measurement collection, pass/fail evaluation, and reporting.
• Guide software architecture, code quality, configuration management, CI/CD, release processes, documentation, and operational support.
• Partner closely with electrical engineers to translate avionics interfaces, functional requirements, and failure modes into automated test coverage.
• Partner with mechanical engineers to ensure fixtures, cabling, connectors, serviceability, safety, and operator workflows support reliable production testing.
• Work with FPGA and embedded-software teams to configure, communicate with, and validate FPGA-enabled avionics hardware.
• Improve test coverage, station uptime, throughput, failure triage, test repeatability, and traceability.
• Establish metrics and processes for regression health, station reliability, first-pass yield, retest rate, false failures, and recurring failure modes.
• Support root-cause analysis across the unit under test, fixture, instrumentation, test software, embedded software, FPGA behavior, and electrical interfaces.

Skills

Python

Leadership

Test automation

Embedded systems

C/C++

Communication

Tools

Git

CI/CD

Test frameworks

FPGA interfaces

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Software Engineering Manager to lead the X-BAT Hardware Test Software team, building and sustaining automated production test stands for avionics and aircraft electrical assemblies.

You will guide Python-based test frameworks, station-control software, data-collection, and pass/fail reporting while partnering with electrical, mechanical, and FPGA groups to ensure reliable production testing.