Flight Software Engineer, Distinguished

Overview

Draper is an independent, nonprofit research and development company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The 2,000+ employees of Draper tackle important national challenges with a promise of delivering successful and usable solutions. From military defense and space exploration to biomedical engineering, lives often depend on the solutions we provide. Our multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists work in a collaborative environment that inspires the cross‑fertilization of ideas necessary for true innovation.

Draper is looking for a highly skilled Flight Software Engineer, Distinguished to join the Mission Software Architectures and Applications group. The engineer develops high‑performance solutions for resource constrained targets, designs and develops resilient, fault tolerant, real‑time, highly reliable software solutions in the application domains of undersea, terrestrial, air, hypersonics and space. The Engineer is well‑versed in the full mission‑critical software development life cycle, from architecture conceptualization, requirements analysis, design and documentation through development, testing and release.

They collaborate across multiple interdisciplinary teams to plan, build, and test new functionality. They work on developing and debugging embedded software as well as executing software and system‑level tests in various engineering environments, including complex software‑in‑the‑loop simulations and real‑time hardware‑in‑the‑loop environments. The candidate will be expected to follow and push for continuous improvement of software development best practices on complex projects, and provide mentorship to more junior software engineers.

• Evaluates requirements, proposes solutions, explores design trades to support a design.
• Designs algorithms using modern theory and proven techniques.
• Develops embedded software based on prototype algorithms with supervision.
• Analyzes designs to demonstrate performance and functionality.
• Develops and executes software tests to check compliance with requirements.
• Evaluates results to establish problem causes and develop solutions for inefficiencies.
• Prepares technical data, procedures, reports, drawings, manuals, and other required documentation.
• Drives solutions to complex problems with limited direction – contributes to requirements development and architecture solution ideation.
• Responsible for a subset of engineering scope.
• Identifies program/system‑level technical risks and develops and executes mitigation strategies.
• Mentors less experienced engineers.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Excellent development and troubleshooting skills on embedded targets.
• Excellent knowledge of OS coding techniques, IP protocols, interfaces and hardware subsystems.
• Expertise in software development for real‑time systems.
• Mastery of high‑level development languages (e.g., C/C++, Rust).
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Knowledge of software configuration management tools, defect tracking tools, and peer review processes.
• Excellent time management skills with proven ability to meet deadlines.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience with UML/SysML.
• Experience with in‑circuit emulators, JTAG debuggers and laboratory test equipment.

Requires a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering.

Requires 10-15 years of experience in Software Engineering or related fields.

Applicants selected for this position will be required to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.

City:
Cambridge
State:
Massachusetts
Postal Code:

The US base salary range for this full‑time position is $ – $. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job‑related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Union ranges will be in compliance with the collective bargaining agreement’s approved rates by location and…