Senior Flight Software Engineer

About the Company: We are a stealth-mode Aerospace & Defense startup headquartered in Gardena, CA. Our founding team hails from SpaceX, Anduril, and Lockheed Martin, and we are backed by Joint Staff-level military leadership and several Silicon Valley firms. With a world-class business development & leadership team already in place, we are well positioned to capitalize on already overwhelming demand. Job Overview: As a Flight Software Engineer, you will design and develop mission-critical software that enables the operation of advanced aerospace and defense systems. You will work closely with cross-functional engineering teams to translate system requirements into reliable, real-time embedded software, integrating with avionics hardware, sensors, and communication subsystems. This role involves contributing across the full software development lifecycle, including design, implementation, testing, and validation in simulation and hardware-in-the-loop environments. The ideal candidate is passionate about building high-reliability software that meets the rigorous safety, performance, and security standards required for defense missions. What You’ll Work On Real-time flight software architecture for autonomous systems Guidance, navigation, and control software integration with onboard sensors Interfaces with IMUs, GPS, seekers, and motor/actuation systems High-reliability communication between processors (CAN, UART, Ethernet, etc.) Hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) and software-in-the-loop (SITL) testing infrastructure Telemetry, logging, and system health monitoring Flight test support and debugging Our systems run across heterogeneous compute environments ranging from embedded microcontrollers to Linux flight computers, and must perform reliably under strict timing and resource constraints. Qualifications: Strong C or C++ in performance-critical systems Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineer, or Computer Engineering 7+ years of experience working a Flight Software Engineer Real-time or near-real-time software Sensor integration (IMU, GPS, cameras, radar, etc.) Experience with working along side Guidance / navigation / control systems team Linux-based embedded platforms Hardware bring-up and debugging You should be comfortable working close to the hardware, reading datasheets, debugging buses, and instrumenting systems in flight tests.