Systems Engineer. Aircraft Software

Roboticsconnected

Oxnard (CA)

On-site

USD 180,000 - 240,000

Full time

14 days+

A complete application in a minute

Tailored resume and cover letter, ready to send.

Get past ATS filters

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Salary commensurate with experience

Medical/Dental/Vision/401k

PTO and sick leave

Wellness stipend

Daily catered lunch

Parental leave

Impact on national security mission

World-class engineering team

Job summary

Swarm Aero is building the world's largest swarming UAV platform and a robust C2 software network to enable swarms of autonomous assets. We seek a Software Systems Engineer to ensure reliable software across subsystems, and to work with propulsion, avionics, and flight control teams.

You will lead standards, architecture, and verification efforts, while navigating DO-333, DO-178/254, MIL-STD-882, and related regulatory guidelines.

Qualifications

7+ years in systems engineering on aerospace/UMS/defense platforms with a software focus.
Ability to write clear, verifiable, testable requirements using industry patterns.
Experience authoring/maintaining requirements with modern tools (e.g. Jama, Polarion, JIRA).
Expertise in software development and verification for civil or military aircraft.
Experience with formal verification methods (e.g. DO-333).
Familiarity with software standards for civil aviation (DO-178, DO-254).
Experience with military safety standards handbooks (MIL-STD-882, JSSSEH).
Ability to obtain US Government clearance.

Responsibilities

Lead implementation of software standards, process, and development approaches.
Maintain and refine the software system architecture.
Derive software requirements from functional decomposition of aircraft subsystems.
Define clean interfaces for software interoperability.
Collaborate with propulsion, avionics, and flight-control engineers.
Produce and manage verification artifacts for requirements traceability.
Participate in design reviews to balance performance, risk, schedule, and complexity.
Support HIL/SIL integration testing and anomaly resolution.
Coordinate software verification plans with test teams.
Identify, track, and mitigate technical risk across the program lifecycle.

Skills

Systems engineering

Requirements writing

Software verification

Civil/military aircraft

DO-333 knowledge

DO-178/DO-254 knowledge

MIL-STD-882/JSSSEH

Clearance readiness

Tools

Jama

Polarion

JIRA

Job description

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

Swarm Aero is building large, autonomous, swarming UAS for operations at scale in contested environments. Our aircraft are complex platforms that will operate at the edge of what's possible in non-segregated airspace with high levels of automation. We need a Software Systems Engineer who can support the software that makes it work reliably and robustly.

What You'll Do

Lead implementation of software standards, process, and development approaches
Maintain and refine the software system architecture
Derive software requirements from the functional decomposition of aircraft subsystems
Define clean interfaces for software interoperability
Work closely with design engineers in propulsion, avionics, and flight control
Produce and manage verification artifacts for requirements traceability
Participate in design reviews to drive architecture decisions that balance performance, risk, schedule, and complexity constraints
Support hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) integration testing including investigation and resolution of anomalies
Coordinate with ground and flight test teams to define software verification plans
Identify, track, and mitigate technical risk across the program lifecycle, escalating issues with data-driven recommendations
Contribute to airworthiness and flight authorization documentation

What We're Looking For

7+ years of experience in systems engineering on aerospace, defense, or UAS platforms with a focus on software
Strong foundation in systems engineering principles and practices
Ability to write clear, verifiable, and testable requirements using industry-standard patterns
Familiarity with authoring and maintaining requirements using modern digital tools (e.g. Jama, Polarion, JIRA, etc.)
Expertise in software development and verification activities for civil or military aircraft
Experience with formal methods for verification and validation (e.g. DO-333)
Experience with software development standards for civil aviation (e.g. DO-178, DO-254)
Experience with software aspects of military safety standards and handbooks (e.g. MIL-STD-882, JSSSEH)
Ability to obtain US Government clearance required

Nice to Have

Background in flight control, avionics, or propulsion subsystem integration
Experience with ARP4754 and ARP4761
Exposure to defense programs, military airworthiness, or flight authorization processes including MIL-HDBK-516
Active security clearance

ITAR requirement

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.

What We Offer