Principal Software Engineer, Manufacturing Test

Principal Software Engineer, Manufacturing Test

Performance Drone Works (PDW) is building the next generation of tactical robotic systems used across defense, national security, and public safety missions. We are building a new center of engineering excellence to design our new category of tactical robotic systems and the industrial capacity to deliver them, bringing decisive airpower into the hands of every operator. We are not here to make promises;

we are here to deliver real systems with real capabilities for real missions. You will join a team of operators, engineers, and builders who solve hard problems with humility and focus. We design and produce multi-mission aerial systems that operators trust to perform in real-world conditions, reliably, repeatedly, and  approach is grounded in operator-centered design, rapid iteration from field use, and U.S.

-based manufacturing. We operate by a clear set of values:
Mission First, Aim Farther, Own It, Win Together. This is how we build advantage and how we help protect our service members, our communities, and our country.

• Lead the design, implementation, deployment, and sustainment of manufacturing test software systems supporting assembly, integration, calibration, and final system validation in production.
• Architect scalable software frameworks for automated production test fixtures, diagnostics, telemetry collection, and hardware validation workflows.
• Own software configuration management, deployment pipelines, version control, and release processes for manufacturing and production environments.
• Develop robust automation tools and scripts using Python, Bash, Power Shell, or similar technologies to streamline production operations and reduce operator error.
• Design and maintain Linux-based manufacturing systems including user management, permissions, networking, package management, and system hardening.
• Partner with electrical, firmware, and mechanical engineering teams to integrate software with embedded systems, sensors, robotics hardware, and test instrumentation.
• Drive root-cause analysis investigations related to manufacturing defects, test failures, production escapes, and system reliability issues.
• Establish software validation methodologies to ensure production systems meet product requirements, configuration control, quality standards, and operational readiness criteria.
• Improve manufacturing throughput, test coverage, traceability, and process repeatability through automation and data-driven decision making.
• Develop tools and infrastructure for data collection, serialization, logging, and transport across manufacturing and test systems to track 'as built' FW/SW configuration.
• Mentor junior engineers and manufacturing personnel on software best practices, debugging methodologies, and test system operation.
• Contribute to long‑term manufacturing software strategy, tooling standardization, and production scalability initiatives.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with production, quality, supply chain, field operations, and product engineering teams to improve system reliability and operational efficiency.
• Support deployment, troubleshooting, training, and sustainment activities across manufacturing and operational environments as needed, leveraging Admin/IT support.
• Partner with product engineering teams to improve design‑for‑manufacturability throughout the product lifecycle.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related technical field.
• 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering, manufacturing automation, robotics, embedded systems, or production test environments, including technical leadership of complex systems.
• Strong proficiency in Python and at least one additional scripting or systems language such as Bash, Power Shell, or C/C++.
• Experience designing scalable automated manufacturing test systems, reusable hardware test frameworks, and hardware‑in‑the‑loop validation infrastructure.
• Deep expertise in Linux‑based systems administration, deployment automation, networking, security, system services, and package management in production engineering or…