Ground Station Software Engineer; Staff to Senior

Job Description

WORK LOCATION:

Chantilly VA or East Coast Remote.

FLSA STATUS:
Exempt
Salary Estimate: $148,000 to $215,000 annually, based on experience and internal alignment.

Redwire Defense Tech seeks a UAS ground station software engineer to expand the capabilities of the Ground Control Station (GCS) that operates multiple edge‑autonomy aircraft. The role focuses on writing code that bridges the human user and the aircraft, ensuring simplicity, mission focus, and flight safety. Responsibilities include monitoring aircraft health, managing flight paths, balancing aircraft and airspace constraints, dealing with dynamic weather, data‑link limitations, threat avoidance, and coordination with external entities.

• Design and write code to expand the capabilities of the GCS.
• Work on a small team handling all aspects of Ground Station Development including GUI, algorithm development, and the communications interface to the aircraft.
• Coordinate with operational users and the flight test team to respond to emerging operator needs and identify opportunities to reduce operator workload, increase mission success, and maximize flight safety.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field required.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• 10–15 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Proven track record as a technical leader for large‑scale, multi‑program software systems.
• Experience defining architecture and long‑term evolution of mission‑critical applications.
• Significant experience integrating with avionics, autonomy, GNC, or ground control systems.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor senior‑level engineers and lead complex cross‑functional initiatives.
• Expert proficiency in Type Script, C++, Python, C#, or other object‑oriented languages used in aerospace application development.
• Mastery of real‑time data handling, networked systems, and UAV control protocols such as STANAG 4586, MAVLink, DDS, or comparable data‑link and middleware standards.
• Experience with modern web UI frameworks (React, Angular, Vue) or desktop application frameworks (WPF, Qt, Win Forms).
• Extensive experience designing modular architectures, interface standards, and enterprise‑level software frameworks.
• Strong understanding of system‑level constraints involving avionics, autonomy, mission planning, and operator workflows.
• High proficiency with Dev Ops, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and configuration/version control best practices.
• Exceptional systems thinking and architectural leadership.
• Strong ability to influence executives, technical leaders, and program direction.
• Highly effective cross‑functional communicator who thrives in complex, multi‑team environments.
• Demonstrated ability to foresee technical challenges and design durable, long‑range solutions.
• Strong capability in mentoring, knowledge transfer, and engineering culture‑building.
• Operational awareness with strong empathy for operator needs and mission use‑cases.

• M.S. in CS, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Human‑Computer Interaction, or related field.
• Leadership experience guiding multi‑year, multi‑platform software evolution.
• Experience supporting flight operations, ground system integration, SIL/HIL workflows, or mission operations.
• Experience working in aerospace, defense, or safety‑critical environments with regulatory or certification constraints.
• Strong experience with desktop application platforms such as Electron and server‑side runtimes (Node.js), as well as containerized infrastructure (Docker, Docker Compose).
• UI/UX experience designing operator interfaces using HTML/CSS frameworks and component libraries (Tailwind CSS, Bootstrap, Material UI, Shadcn).
• Experience with geospatial and web mapping concepts, including tiles, projections, and real‑time overlay rendering (Map Libre GL, Mapbox, deck.gl, ArcGIS, QGIS).
• Experience with streaming video integration, including MPEG‑TS containerization, H.264/H.265 codecs, and KLV metadata extraction.
• Experience designing extensible plugin architectures that support long‑term system growth and…