Senior Fire Control Systems Software Engineer

About Us

We are a stealth-mode Aerospace & Defense startup headquartered in Gardena, CA. Our founding team hails from Space

X, Anduril, and Lockheed Martin, and we are backed by Joint Staff-level military leadership and top-tier Silicon Valley firms. Our mission is urgent: to develop and deploy life-saving missile defense systems that can be fielded globally, today. We are assembling a high-agency team committed to moving fast, solving hard problems, and defending what matters most.

The Role

We are seeking a Fire Control Systems Software Engineer to design, build, integrate, and validate the software that sits between target cueing from command-and-control systems and the safe execution of weapon employment. This role is responsible for the software layer that ingests target and engagement data, evaluates engagement options, coordinates launcher/effector actions, enforces software-based safety constraints, and reports engagement status back into the broader mission system.

This is not a generic backend or application role. We are looking for an engineer who has worked on real mission-critical systems where timing, determinism, interface fidelity, and fail-safe behavior matter-ideally in missile defense, integrated air and missile defense, fire control, engagement planning, launcher/effector integration, combat systems, or closely related domains.

You will join a highly effective software team with strong execution and work ethic. Your unique value will be bringing hard-earned experience building software for government and military customers, and helping shape how we architect, test, document, and field fire control capability in a disciplined but fast-moving environment.

What You'll Do

• Architect, implement, and test fire control and engagement management software that bridges sensors and C2 systems to launchers, interceptors, or other effectors.
• Develop core functionality such as track ingestion, target state handling, engagement state machines, weapon-target pairing, launcher/effector command sequencing, inhibit/arm/fire logic, and post-launch status management.
• Design software interfaces and message flows across radar/sensor systems, C2 nodes, launchers, effectors, simulators, and operator-facing mission software.
• Build deterministic, fault-tolerant behavior under tight timing and reliability constraints, including degraded modes, interlocks, watchdogs, and safe-state transitions.
• Translate mission and system-level requirements into clear software behavior, interface definitions, and testable acceptance criteria.
• Partner closely with systems engineering, hardware, integration/test, simulation, GNC, and product teams to deliver end-to-end capability.
• Contribute to verification and validation through SIL/HIL/HWIL environments, Monte Carlo analysis, integration labs, ground test, and live or operational test events.
• Participate in requirements reviews, design reviews, hazard analyses, FMEAs, test readiness reviews, and customer technical interchange meetings.
• Help establish engineering best practices for safety-critical and customer-facing defense software, including traceability, release discipline, field issue triage, and root-cause analysis.
• Mentor other engineers and elevate the team's understanding of fire control architectures, government program rigor, and mission-driven development.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 6+ years of experience developing mission-critical, real-time, embedded, or distributed software systems in defense, aerospace, robotics, autonomy, or similarly demanding environments.
• Demonstrated experience building software that operates in or near the chain from target cueing and engagement planning through effector or launcher execution.
• Strong proficiency in C++ and Python; working knowledge of Java, Rust, or Ada is a plus.
• Experience developing on Linux and comfort working in mixed software/hardware integration environments.
• Experience with real-time messaging, low-latency communications, and distributed system coordination (e.g. DDS, UDP, TCP, ZeroMQ, CAN, or similar).
• Experience owning software through design, implementation, integration, test, and field/debug cycles.
• Ability to reason about timing-sensitive systems, concurrency, interface contracts, and failure modes.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work directly with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with fire control, battle management, engagement planning, weapon system integration, launcher control, interceptor systems, C-UAS, integrated air and missile defense, or naval combat systems.
• Experience building software for DoD, IC, or allied military customers in classified or restricted environments.
• Familiarity with software and systems safety practices such as hazard analysis,…