Staff Engineer, Software - Autonomous Aircraft Integration (Embedded Systems)

Location: On-site in Washington, DC, Boston, MA, or San Diego, California; travel to test sites and flight integration events is typically 30–40% of the year.

Salary: $182,720–$274,080 per year, plus bonus, benefits, and equity for regular employees.

Company

hirify.global is a venture-backed defense-tech company developing intelligent systems, including autonomy software, unmanned aircraft, and simulation technologies.

What you will do

• Integrate autonomy software onto unmanned aircraft across onboard compute, sensors, and control interfaces.
• Build, configure, validate, and prepare systems for flight and mission deployment.
• Support live flight operations, including safety checks, system bring-up, troubleshooting, and field testing.
• Debug hardware, embedded systems, and complex autonomy software stacks in laboratory and field environments.
• Capture and analyze flight data, refine autonomous behaviors, and identify system improvements.
• Collaborate with autonomy, GNC, systems, and test teams while supporting certification, airworthiness, and compliance activities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, electrical, mechanical, aerospace engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Typically 7+ years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree, 5+ years with a master’s degree, or 4+ years with a PhD.
• Proficiency in C++ and Python, Linux-based development, shell scripting, system diagnostics, and embedded systems.
• Familiarity with real-time operating systems, sensor integration, sensor fusion, and middleware such as ROS or DDS.
• Hands-on experience with flight demonstrations or live exercises, plus simulation tools such as AFSIM or NGTS.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.

Nice to have

• Experience with unmanned aerial systems, flight-test campaigns, autonomy stacks, flight-control systems, or GNC pipelines.
• Experience with electronics debugging, avionics bring-up, and automation tools for testing, logging, or data parsing.
• Experience interfacing with DoD stakeholders and familiarity with UCI and OMS standards.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on intelligent systems supporting defense operations across air, sea, and land domains.
• Regular employee package includes bonus, benefits, and equity.
• Employment is based at one of the listed U.S. locations with frequent travel to customer sites and flight integration events.
• Offers are contingent on a cleared background and may include a reference check.