Director of Software Engineering

Position Summary Flight Wave  Aerospace, a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead the development of the software systems powering our next generation of autonomous VTOL unmanned aircraft.

This role combines deep technical leadership with organizational development, overseeing the architecture, development, and scaling of Flight Wave’s robotics software stack across embedded systems, autonomy, perception, and platform infrastructure.

The Director of Software Engineering will be responsible for building and leading a growing team of software engineers, shaping technical direction across multiple programs, and establishing the organizational structure required to support rapid product development and scaled production.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. The ideal candidate is a software architect who has successfully scaled engineering teams from early-stage development groups into mature, multi-team organizations while maintaining strong technical ownership of system architecture and software quality.

Flight Wave develops unmanned aircraft systems for defense, public safety, and government security applications. Our platforms combine advanced robotics software with high-performance edge compute systems, enabling autonomous mission execution in demanding operational environments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities Technical Leadership & Architecture Own the technical architecture of Flight Wave’s robotics software stack across embedded firmware, flight software, autonomy, perception, and edge compute systems

Guide the evolution of software systems supporting current and future VTOL UAS platforms

Establish scalable software architecture and engineering standards across multiple teams and products

Provide hands-on technical leadership through architecture reviews, design guidance, and engineering mentorship

Work closely with hardware and systems engineering teams to ensure robust hardware/software integration

Organizational Development & Team Scaling Build and scale Flight Wave’s internal software engineering organization as the company grows from a small team into a multi-team software group

Recruit, hire, and develop high-performing software engineers across multiple disciplines including embedded systems, autonomy, and platform software

Develop and mentor technical leads and future engineering managers within the organization

Establish team structures, ownership boundaries, and development processes that enable rapid iteration while maintaining system reliability

Build a leadership bench capable of supporting multiple concurrent programs with increasing independence

Program Execution Partner with program management, product leadership, and systems engineering to deliver complex software systems on aggressive timelines

Ensure software systems are designed for reliability, maintainability, and rapid iteration across flight test cycles

Establish development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and testing frameworks that support both research iteration and production-quality software

External Engineering & Vendor Integration Manage relationships with external software contractors and engineering firms supporting Flight Wave programs

Ensure externally developed software components integrate cleanly with internal architecture and meet quality standards

Coordinate internal and external engineering resources to scale development capacity during periods of rapid program growth

Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
12+ years of professional software engineering experience5+ years leading or managing software engineering teams

Demonstrated experience scaling engineering organizations from small teams into multi-team software groups

Strong background in robotics, embedded systems, or autonomous platforms

Expert-level software architecture experience across complex distributed or real-time systems

Strong proficiency in C++ and modern systems programming environments

Experience developing software for hardware-integrated systems such as robotics, autonomous vehicles, or aerospace platforms

Working understanding of control systems and sensor fusion concepts (e.g., state estimation, flight control loops) sufficient to guide system architecture, make tradeoff decisions, and collaborate effectively with autonomy and flight control engineers

Experience incorporating AI-assisted development tools into engineering workflows to improve productivity, code quality, and iteration speed

Demonstrated ability to recruit, mentor, and develop high-performing engineering teams

Proven experience coordinating internal teams with external contractors or engineering vendors

Additional Desired Qualifications

Experience with robotics or autonomous systems software stacks (PX4, ROS2, MAVLink, etc.)Experience developing software for unmanned aircraft systems or aerospace platforms

Familiarity with edge computing…