Principal Software Engineer

AeroVironment•Melbourne, FL

10d•$133,500 - $189,525•Onsite

About The Position

As a Principal Software Engineer at AV, you’ll develop software to control advanced robotic platforms from AV and industry leaders including Boston Dynamics, Red Cat, FLIR, Skydio, QinetiQ, Parrot, and more. You’ll play a key role in developing Kinesis, our flagship software ecosystem that enables users to collaboratively control a diverse set of robots. This role is ideal for engineers who take ownership, enjoy working hands-on with hardware, and bring structure and clarity to complex systems. You’ll be trusted to move quickly, make sound decisions, and continuously improve our product and execution.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Math, or Physics is required or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience with 12+ 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 engineer who takes ownership and brings structure to complex systems
Ability to engage directly with technical and non-technical customers
Ability to leverage AI tooling to improve engineering productivity and code quality
Experience tasking and mentoring small engineering teams
Ability to obtain a US DoD Secret clearance if required
Willingness to travel locally (Occasionally)

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree is preferred
Experience with UAS, drones, robotics, autonomous vehicles, or other embedded systems
Experience with CI/CD pipelines (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
Demonstrates leadership skills and sound judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions
Demonstrates effective listening, questioning, clarifying and summarizing skills to effectively communicate in one-on-one and small group settings
Demonstrates understanding of system design that one is working on and understands the role that assigned tasks play in the system
Able to excel in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, where small teams share a broad variety of duties
Displays strong initiative and drive to accomplish goals and meet company objectives
Takes ownership and responsibility for current and past work products
Is committed to learning from mistakes and driven to improve and enhance performance of oneself, others, and the company
Has effective problem-solving, analytical, interpersonal and communication skills
Focuses on teamwork, collaboration and puts the success of the team above one's own interests

Responsibilities

Software development in support of 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.
Delivers work on time according to agreed completion dates and project schedule & budget.
Supports and derives algorithm design from detailed software requirements.
Works closely with multiple teams of software developers reusing developed software to support different programs.
Operates in a continuous learning environment and provides guidance and mentoring to less experienced engineers.
Works on significant and unique issues where analysis of situations or data requires an evaluation of intangibles.
Acts independently to determine methods and procedures on new or special assignments.
Occasional travel for customer or testing events.
Other duties as assigned.