Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer (Guidance, Navigation & Tracking)Location: Hawthorne - 20 minutes from LAXOnsite requirements: 4 days onsite (Mon-Thurs)Engagement: 6 month contract to hire (with top performers converting earlier)Contract type: W2 - with benefits (healthcare, dental, vision, 401k)Role OverviewWe are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Guidance, Navigation & Tracking (GNT) Software Engineer to join our R&D team. This role will lead the design, development, and integration of autonomous and semi-autonomous flight software for next-generation aerial systems.Working on a clean-sheet airframe design, you will be responsible for developing guidance, navigation, tracking, and mission autonomy capabilities that enable effectors and unmanned aircraft to operate effectively in complex environments. This is a highly hands-on engineering role requiring deep technical expertise across system architecture, algorithm development, software implementation, hardware integration, and flight testing.ResponsibilitiesDesign, develop, and implement guidance, navigation, tracking, and autonomy algorithms for unmanned aerial systems and airborne platforms.Develop flight software enabling autonomous and semi-autonomous navigation, mission execution, and target tracking capabilities.Lead the architecture and implementation of GNT systems for a clean-sheet air vehicle design.Develop software on embedded and Linux-based flight computing platforms.Integrate guidance and navigation software with flight hardware, sensors, autopilots, and mission systems.Support system integration, hardware/software testing, verification, validation, and flight test activities.Collaborate closely with airframe, systems, and mission engineering teams to optimize overall vehicle performance.Contribute across multiple product families as the organisation expands its autonomous systems portfolio.Minimum ExperienceBachelor's degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Applied Mathematics, or a related discipline.10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including object-oriented software development.Demonstrated experience designing and implementing Guidance, Navigation & Tracking (GNT) algorithms for airborne platforms.Strong understanding of flight dynamics, state estimation, navigation, sensor fusion, trajectory generation, path planning, target tracking, and autonomous flight behaviours.Proven experience developing software for flying vehicles, including drones, missiles, aircraft, helicopters, spacecraft, or similar airborne systems.Ability to independently design, develop, implement, integrate, and validate complete GNT solutions.Extensive experience with microcontroller-based systems (STM32 or similar) and Linux-based embedded computing platforms such as Nvidia Jetson, AMD/Xilinx SoCs, or similar architectures.U.S. Person status required due to access restrictions on controlled data and systems.Highly Desirable ExperienceDevelopment of GNT systems from first principles for new aircraft or autonomous platforms.Significant modification, redesign, or extension of open-source autopilot frameworks such as ArduPilot or PX4, particularly within guidance, navigation, mission autonomy, or tracking subsystems.Experience with advanced tracking algorithms, target localization, sensor fusion, and contested navigation environments.Experience integrating EO/IR, radar, GNSS-denied navigation, or other mission sensors into autonomous systems.Current or previous DoD security clearance.Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification.Experience with FPGA firmware development using VHDL and AMD/Xilinx development environments.Experience with Git-based development workflows.Experience with production-level software deployment, DevOps, DevSecOps, and CI/CD pipelines.Experience delivering high-TRL systems through full lifecycle development, integration, verification, validation, and operational deployment.