Senior Flight Software Engineer
Poseidon Aerospace
About the role
About Poseidon Aerospace:
Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining how the world moves goods. We build and operate full-size autonomous cargo aircraft - capable of carrying two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. From remote communities to contested logistics operations, our platforms unlock a new cost curve for air freight, making it faster, cheaper, and accessible anywhere it's needed. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine; we're building something consequential.
About the role
Flight software is the code that runs on the flight computers of our autonomous cargo aircraft. As a Senior Flight Software Engineer you will own major parts of that software, from architecture through flight test. You will decide how the software is structured, how it handles failures, and how it is tested, and you will write a large share of the code yourself. You will also set the technical bar for the engineers around you.
Responsibilities
Own the architecture of major flight software subsystems, including timing, partitioning, and redundancy
Design and implement deterministic, real-time embedded flight software in C++
Design fault detection and response for the aircraft, including redundancy management, degraded modes, and lost-link behavior
Define software requirements and interfaces with avionics, GNC, and flight test, and trace them to tests
Implement the GNC team’s algorithms in flight code and verify them against simulation
Set the test strategy across unit tests, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop
Build telemetry, logging, and command paths between the aircraft and the ground station
Lead software integration on the aircraft and support ground testing and flight test, including travel to our flight test site
Set coding standards and review practices, and lead design reviews
Mentor other flight software engineers
Required Qualifications
B.S. in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
5+ years of professional C or C++ development on embedded, real-time, or safety-critical systems
Owned a flight software subsystem or equivalent from architecture through fielded operation
Took software through hardware integration and test on a real vehicle (aircraft, spacecraft, or automotive)
Designed fault detection and response for a system where failure had safety consequences
Led design reviews and set technical direction for other engineers
Preferred Qualifications
Flight software experience on crewed or uncrewed aircraft, or on spacecraft
RTOS or bare-metal development, with a deep understanding of scheduling, timing, and memory
Experience designing redundant or fault-tolerant flight computer architectures
Experience developing software under DO-178C or a comparable standard such as ISO 26262
Experience supporting flight test or vehicle test campaigns
Python for tooling, test automation, and flight data analysis
Clear technical writing
Why this role
Flight software touches every system on the aircraft: avionics, propulsion, flight controls, and the ground station. You will make the decisions that shape how those systems work together, at a stage where the architecture is still yours to set. You will work directly with flight hardware and watch your code fly an aircraft that carries two tons.
What you get from us
Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity
Relocation support if applicable
Employee Health Benefit Plans
6% Retirement matching
Flexible PTO
Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at our offices
AI tools and subscriptions
Responsibilities
- Own architecture of major flight software subsystems, including timing, partitioning, and redundancy
- Design and implement deterministic, real-time embedded flight software in C++
- Develop fault detection and response, including redundancy management and degraded modes
- Define software requirements and interfaces, and trace them to tests
- Implement and verify GNC algorithms in flight code
- Set testing strategy across unit, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop testing
- Build aircraft telemetry, logging, and command paths to the ground station
- Lead software integration, ground testing, and flight test
Qualifications
- B.S. in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
- 5+ years of professional C or C++ development on embedded, real-time, or safety-critical systems
- Experience owning a flight software subsystem or equivalent from architecture through fielded operation
- Experience taking software through hardware integration and testing on a real vehicle
- Experience designing fault detection and response for safety-critical systems
- Experience leading design reviews and setting technical direction
- Preferred: flight software experience on aircraft or spacecraft
- Preferred: RTOS or bare-metal development and redundant or fault-tolerant architectures
Benefits
- Meaningful early-stage equity
- Relocation support where applicable
- Employee health benefit plans
- 6% retirement matching
- Flexible PTO
- Free lunches, snacks, and stocked office fridge
- AI tools and subscriptions
Skills mentioned
About Poseidon Aerospace
Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining how the world moves goods. We build and operate full-size autonomous cargo aircraft; Heron, a seaplane, and Egret, a STOL aircraft; each capable of carrying two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. From remote communities to contested logistics operations, our platforms unlock a new cost curve for air freight, making it faster, cheaper, and accessible anywhere it's needed. Headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Washington, DC and Maine, we're a small team building something consequential.