About the Role
We are developing an affordable autonomous interceptor system designed to counter unmanned aerial threats at scale. Success in this mission depends on software that performs reliably in dynamic, high-consequence operational environments. Every software release must be thoroughly validated through automated testing, simulation, and disciplined verification processes before deployment.
We are seeking a Software Engineer - Quality Assurance to lead the development of test infrastructure, software validation frameworks, and quality assurance practices that ensure the reliability, safety, and performance of mission-critical systems.
This role combines software engineering, systems thinking, and mission assurance. The ideal candidate is passionate about building automated testing solutions, improving software quality, and collaborating across multidisciplinary teams to deliver robust autonomous systems. You will work closely with embedded software, autonomy, AI, simulation, and ground control system engineers to help ensure software meets performance, reliability, and operational requirements.
As part of a fast-moving defense technology organization, you will play a key role in shaping the software quality strategy for a next-generation autonomous platform.
Key Responsibilities
1. Develop Automated Testing and Validation Frameworks
- Design, develop, and maintain automated test frameworks for embedded software, autonomy systems, AI-enabled capabilities, and ground control applications.
- Create and expand regression, integration, and system-level test suites to support continuous software validation.
- Develop tooling that enables rapid identification and resolution of software defects.
2. Build Simulation and Test Environments
- Develop and maintain software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test environments.
- Create realistic simulation scenarios to validate software performance across a wide range of operational conditions.
- Implement fault-injection and stress-testing capabilities to evaluate system resilience and reliability.
3. Lead Verification and Validation Activities
- Define and execute software verification and validation strategies across unit, integration, system, simulation, and flight-test environments.
- Establish software acceptance criteria and release qualification processes.
- Ensure software releases meet quality, reliability, and mission-readiness requirements prior to deployment.
4. Manage Defect Identification and Resolution
- Support the full defect lifecycle, including identification, prioritization, root-cause analysis, resolution tracking, and verification.
- Collaborate with software engineers to diagnose issues across embedded, autonomy, AI, simulation, and control systems.
- Verify corrective actions through automated and manual testing approaches.
5. Create and Maintain Technical Documentation
- Develop test plans, test procedures, verification reports, and traceability documentation.
- Maintain verification artifacts linking system requirements, test cases, defects, and validation results.
- Produce documentation suitable for engineering reviews, customer assessments, and defense program audits.
6. Support Flight Testing and Operational Evaluations
- Participate in flight test preparation, test execution, and post-test analysis activities.
- Validate software baselines and release configurations before field deployment.
- Analyze operational and flight-test data to identify anomalies and verify expected system behavior.
7. Improve Quality Processes and Engineering Standards
- Contribute to quality assurance processes, coding standards, CI/CD pipelines, and development best practices.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives that enhance software quality while maintaining development velocity.
- Promote a culture of quality, accountability, and engineering excellence across the organization.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- 5 years experience in software quality assurance, software verification and validation, test automation, or related software engineering disciplines.
- Proficiency in Python, C++, C, or similar programming languages.
- Experience designing and developing automated testing frameworks and validation tools.
- Experience with unit, integration, system, and regression testing methodologies.
- Familiarity with software development lifecycle processes and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) practices.
- Experience with defect tracking and issue management tools such as Jira, GitLab, or similar platforms.
- Strong understanding of software architecture and complex system interactions.
- Ability to analyze, troubleshoot, and resolve software issues across multiple technical domains.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Willingness to travel to support integration, testing, and demonstration events.
- Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Defense Secret Security Clearance.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting aerospace, defense, autonomous systems, robotics, or unmanned systems programs.
- Experience validating flight-critical, safety-critical, or mission-critical software systems.
- Knowledge of software assurance, system safety, or military software development standards.
- Experience developing or operating Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) test environments.
- Familiarity with model-based design, MATLAB/Simulink, ROS, PX4, ArduPilot, or similar autonomy platforms.
- Experience performing simulation-based testing for autonomous or robotic systems.
- Experience analyzing telemetry, flight logs, and operational data.
- Previous experience in a startup, high-growth technology company, or rapid product development environment.
- Active or previously held U.S. Department of Defense security clearance.
Due to the nature of this work, U.S. Citizenship may be required in accordance with government contract requirements and applicable export control regulations.
Pay: $100,000.00 - $108,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Work Location: Remote
