Flight Software Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Flight Software Engineer Develop and validate embedded flight software for Anduril UAVs, from drivers to flight control

Location: Costa Mesa, California

Compensation: $191,000 - 253,000 USD / year

About The Role Senior Flight Software Engineer

Costa Mesa, California, United States

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century's most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril's family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting‑edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

About The Team

The Vehicle Management Systems (VMS) software team, which is part of Anduril's Tactical Recon and Strike (TRS) division, develops flight computer vehicle software for small drones (Group 1–3).

Are you passionate about avionics and flight software? Join us in refining the foundation for a common Vehicle Management System (VMS) that can be used across Group 1–3 UAVs. The team is enhancing the current Altius VMS to support modularity, clean abstractions, and faster new‑aircraft development cycles—laying the groundwork for scalable, reusable flight software across the TRS product line.

The right person for this role has experience in flight control software and embedded Linux or RTOS development. Joining early means you'll directly shape how we scale—both in the volume of drones we build and the breadth of missions they can fly. Our engineers move quickly from simulation to flight and thrive on solving real‑world problems that matter.

About The Role

As a Senior Flight Software Engineer, you will be responsible for developing the embedded software that powers Anduril's aircraft while working alongside a team of engineers with a diverse set of backgrounds and skills. Anduril has a collaborative culture with plenty of opportunities for ownership. As an early member of the team, your decisions today will have a large impact on the company now and into the future, as well as on our customers.

You’ll own sections of the flight stack end-to-end — from device drivers and middleware integration to control law implementation, test automation, and flight validation. Expect to work closely with GNC, hardware, manufacturing, and operations teams, lead technical design reviews, and mentor junior engineers. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on real-world engineering constraints and wants to see the code they ship fly on mission‑critical systems.

What You’ll Do

• Design and implement vehicle control systems.
• Develop embedded software for pre‑emptible Linux or RTOS applications.
• Develop device drivers, protocols, and APIs for aircraft sensors.
• Integrate new features and sensors into flight controller software.
• Integrate guidance and control algorithms with the flight software stack.
• Create Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) and Hardware-In-The-Loop (HITL) test fixtures and automation.
• Analyze flight test results and iterate quickly on fixes and improvements.
• Support device manufacturing efforts, debugging, and production‑level test.
• Support operational aircraft deployments and field troubleshooting.
• Mentor junior engineers and help improve team engineering practices and test infrastructure.

Required Qualifications

• 4+ years of C++ or Rust programming experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Direct experience with embedded software or other safety‑critical systems.
• Background in low‑level embedded software architecture, design and development.
• Low‑level device driver development experience; familiarity with both microcontrollers and application processors.
• Comfortable with typical embedded systems tools, compilers, debuggers, and IDEs.
• Familiarity with communications busses and protocols such as CAN, CAN FD, UART/RS232/RS422/RS485, SPI, QSPI, I2C, Ethernet, etc.
• Strong debugging skills, comfortable using instrumentation such as oscilloscopes and protocol analyzers.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• 6+ years of C++ or Rust programming experience creating clean, efficient, and reliable code.
• Strong vehicle systems and avionics design knowledge.
• Experience building flight stacks or working with PX4/ArduPilot or proprietary autopilots.
• Familiarity with control systems, state estimation, and guidance algorithms.
• Bias toward delivery and rapid iteration to discover the right engineering investments.
• Willingness to take calculated risks and full accountability for outcomes.
• Passion for solving real‑world problems quickly and effectively.
• Track record of designing, building, and delivering useful software to users — we want to hear war stories!
• Experience with SITL/HITL frameworks, CI for embedded systems, and creating reproducible test environments.

US Salary Range

$191,000 - $253,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you're supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

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