Senior Software Engineer- Flight Autonomy

Senior Software Engineer - Flight Autonomy

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- Flight Autonomy role at Merlin.

Merlin Labs is seeking a Senior Software Engineer with strong experience in DO-178C flight software development and avionics integration. In this role, you will design and implement safety‑critical autonomous flight software, integrate it with avionics hardware platforms, and contribute to certification‑ready development processes.

Responsibilities

• Develop, integrate, and verify flight‑critical software using C/C++ following DO‑178C processes.

• Build application‑level flight software and ensure robust integration with underlying avionics hardware interfaces.

• Create, maintain and review software requirements, code and certification artifacts adhering to certification plans and standards.

• Troubleshoot integration issues on test benches and aircraft.

• Develop automated workflows for software integration and build processes.

• Collaborate with engineers from cross‑functional groups such as systems, safety, hardware, flight controls, and test to ensure product and program level needs are met.

• Contribute to planning and execution of SOI audits and certification reviews.

• Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for software requirements, architecture, build processes and design decisions.

• Support hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL), processor‑in‑the‑loop (PIL), and flight testing activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, or related field.

• 3‑5 years of embedded or flight software development experience within a DO‑178C environment.

• Strong proficiency in C/C++ for embedded, real‑time, safety‑critical systems.

• Understanding of avionics protocols and architectures (ARINC 429, ARINC 653, CAN, MIL‑STD‑1553, Ethernet).

• Experience designing and implementing software for real‑time operating systems (RTOS), with strong knowledge of low‑level topics such as device driver development, interrupt handling, memory management, and performance estimation.

• Strong experience with requirements management, including authoring high‑quality software requirements, maintaining traceability, and using tools such as DOORS, Jama, or Polarion.

• Experience with hardware/software integration, debugging on target hardware, and use of analysis tools (logic analyzers, bus analyzers).

• Experience with Python scripting, tool automation and test automation.

• Experience with CI/CD environments and automated code quality checks.

Nice to Have

• Background integrating software across diverse avionics platforms or multicore systems.

• Familiarity with flight controls, autonomy, GNC, or aircraft certification efforts.

• Exposure to Math Works tools and Model‑Based Development workflows (DO‑331).

• Prior involvement in SOI audits or FAA/EASA certification programs.

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