Principal Software Engineer

AeroVironment•Simi Valley, FL

About The Position

As a Principal Software Engineer at AV, you will develop software to control advanced robotic platforms from AV and industry partners. You will play a key role in developing Kinesis, AV’s software ecosystem for collaboratively controlling diverse robots. The role is suited to engineers who take ownership, work hands-on with hardware, and bring structure and clarity to complex systems. You will make technical decisions, move quickly, and help continuously improve the product and engineering execution. The position contributes to AV’s vision-based navigation, autonomy, cooperative behaviors, and mission systems technology roadmap. It includes setting technical direction across the Kinesis ecosystem, designing and integrating systems in C++ and Kotlin, developing cross-platform applications for Android, Linux, and Windows, and creating SDK interfaces for internal and external integrations. The engineer also serves as a technical lead for customer programs and performs hands-on field testing with robots. The role involves delivering work to agreed schedules and budgets, deriving algorithm designs from detailed software requirements, and collaborating across teams to reuse software across programs. It also includes mentoring less experienced engineers, working independently on significant or unique issues, and occasional travel for customer or testing events. Other duties may be assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Math, or Physics, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience with 12 or more years of relevant experience.
Strong fluency in modern C++, maintainable software architecture, and modular system design.
Experience evaluating product design tradeoffs and translating them into clear system requirements.
Hands-on knowledge of CMake or similar build systems.
Experience developing software for mechatronic or hardware-integrated systems.
Knowledge of computer networking topologies, protocols, and principles.
Familiarity with safety-critical software concepts such as determinism and real-time systems.
Self-directed approach, ownership, and ability to bring structure to complex systems.
Ability to engage directly with technical and non-technical customers.
Ability to use AI tooling to improve engineering productivity and code quality.
Experience tasking and mentoring small engineering teams.
Ability to obtain a U.S. DoD Secret clearance if required.
Willingness to travel locally occasionally.
Must meet the stated U.S. person or export-license eligibility requirements for access to ITAR/EAR-controlled information; some positions may require current U.S. citizenship.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Experience with UAS, drones, robotics, autonomous vehicles, or other embedded systems.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines such as GitLab or similar.
Android/Linux application development experience.
Experience with Docker.
Experience with FastDDS, gRPC, MQTT, or similar networking protocols.
Experience designing and delivering APIs and SDKs to third-party developers.
Leadership skills and sound judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions.
Effective listening, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing skills for one-on-one and small-group communication.
Understanding of the system being developed and how assigned tasks contribute to it.
Ability to excel in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment where small teams share a broad variety of duties.
Strong initiative and drive to accomplish goals and meet company objectives.
Ownership and responsibility for current and past work products.
Commitment to learning from mistakes and improving personal, team, and company performance.
Effective problem-solving, analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills.
Teamwork and collaboration, with the success of the team prioritized over individual interests.

Responsibilities

Develop software supporting AV’s vision-based navigation, autonomy, cooperative behaviors, and mission systems technology roadmap.
Drive technical direction and architectural decisions across the Kinesis ecosystem.
Design, implement, and integrate systems in C++ and Kotlin.
Develop cross-platform applications for Android, Linux, and Windows to control robotic platforms.
Design SDK interfaces for internal and external integration with AV systems.
Serve as a technical lead for customer programs.
Perform hands-on field testing with robots to validate new features.
Deliver work on time according to agreed completion dates, project schedules, and budgets.
Support and derive algorithm design from detailed software requirements.
Work with multiple software development teams to reuse software across different programs.
Provide guidance and mentoring to less experienced engineers.
Work independently on significant or unique issues and determine methods and procedures for new or special assignments.
Travel occasionally for customer or testing events.
Perform other duties as assigned.