Dev Tech Lead Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Moonware builds products to modernize airfield operations, providing the digital infrastructure to coordinate, optimize, and automate aircraft ground handling.

HALO, our flagship product, is used by airfield teams to optimize flight turnarounds. It serves as a centralized operating layer to manage and oversee tasks, communications, and performance. By enhancing operational visibility and control, HALO enables faster, more reliable, and standardized ground operations.

Our vision is to provide fully autonomous ground operations. HALO serves as the digital infrastructure to support that transition, connecting data, people, and machines to build toward automated airfields.

Moonware’s team combines aviation operations domain knowledge together with software and engineering expertise from top Silicon Valley tech companies. As we scale, we’re expanding the Moonware ecosystem to support the next generation of air transportation.

About the role

Moonware is seeking a Tech Lead to own and drive development of HALO, our next-generation Ground Traffic Control™ platform. This is a true end-to-end leadership role: you’ll work directly with ground crews and airport stakeholders to understand operational needs, and lead the design and development of distributed systems that power mission‑critical decisions on the tarmac.

From backend services to internal tools and user‑facing applications, your team will own and deliver systems across the stack, and you will be accountable for their quality, performance, and reliability. You will collaborate closely with frontline users, engineering peers, and vendors while leading a team of engineers to ship high‑performance software that drives efficiency in live ground operations.

ResponsibilitiesTeam leadership & execution

• Lead and manage engineering projects, driving strong execution and consistent delivery
• Set a high bar for engineering quality, velocity, and accountability
• Mentor and leadengineers through code reviews, design discussions, and day‑to‑day guidance
• Own project planning, prioritization, and delivery against company objectives

Technical ownership & architecture

• Own the design and evolution of core systems within HALO
• Lead architectural decisions across backend, frontend, and data systems
• Ensure scalability, reliability, and performance under real‑world operational load
• Establish and enforce best practices across services, APIs, and infrastructure

End‑to‑end system development

• Guide the team in designing, building, testing, and maintaining critical features
• Oversee development across the stack: backend services, internal tools, APIs, and user‑facing applications
• Work with real‑time operational data to ensure accuracy, usability, and performance
• Contribute hands‑on to high‑leverage or complex parts of the system when needed

Product & field collaboration

• Work directly with field users, operators, and vendors to understand workflows and edge cases
• Translate real‑world operational complexity into clear technical direction
• Collaborate with hardware partners to account for device constraints, connectivity, and data integrity
• Ensure what is built works reliably in live airport environments

System reliability & observability

• Ensure data integrity through testing, monitoring, and observability across the pipeline
• Build systems that are resilient to real‑world constraints (latency, hardware variability, intermittent connectivity)
• Own system performance, uptime, and incident response practices

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, with strong full‑stack exposure
• Prior experience as a tech lead or engineering manager, or clear experience leading projects and mentoring engineers
• Strong experience with distributed systems and real‑time or operational environments
• Strong experience with SQL and NoSQL databases, schema design, and performance tuning
• Proficient in backend development (Go, Java, or similar)
• Working knowledge of modern frontend frameworks (React, Angular, or similar)
• Experience designing and consuming REST and/or gRPC APIs

This role might be for you if

• You enjoy leading teams while staying close to the technical work
• You have a strong ownership mindset and are accountable for outcomes, not just output
• You like working in ambiguous environments and bringing structure to complex problems
• You thrive in real‑world, field‑connected systems, not just clean abstractions
• You enjoy working directly with users to deeply understand problems before solving them
• Aviation, autonomy, and next‑generation mobility excite you

Nice to haves

• Experience with real‑time, event‑driven systems (MQTT, WebSockets, etc.)
• Background in aviation, mobility, IoT, or logistics
• Previous experience at an early‑stage startup
• Experience with sensor data, GPS, or fleet telemetry