Senior Software QA Engineer, Avionics Platform

Firestorm•San Diego, CA

9d•$140,000 - $185,000•Onsite

About The Position

Firestorm’s Avionics Platform team builds the software platform that flies our vehicles: flight computers and peripheral controllers running embedded Linux and RTOS stacks; middleware and Linux services; low-level drivers and HALs; and the critical interfaces that connect autonomy, payloads, and comms. We’re hiring a Senior Software QA Engineer to be the first deep-testing line for this avionics stack—validating embedded firmware, board support packages, device drivers, and safety-critical data paths long before Flight Test. You’ll blend expert exploratory/system testing with targeted automation across HIL/SIL rigs, exercising real buses (CAN/CAN-FD, UART, SPI, I²C, Ethernet) and stressing links (MAVLink, Tactical Data Links, etc.) under real-world fault conditions. You’ll partner closely with avionics, autonomy, radio, and payload engineers to harden reliability where it matters most: on the aircraft. This is a full-time, onsite role at our San Diego HQ. Expect meaningful hands-on time with benches, flight computers, power systems, radios, and sensors to validate end-to-end flight workflows.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
5+ years professional QA/SDET experience, including automation for embedded/real-time or safety-critical systems.
Hands-on testing for embedded Linux and/or RTOS (e.g., NuttX, FreeRTOS, PX4) and driver/HAL layers across UART/SPI/I²C/CAN-FD/Ethernet.
Practical experience building automated tests with Python (pytest/Robot or equivalent) controlling benches over serial/CAN/Ethernet; comfort with C/C++ artifacts and host-based unit tests (gtest).
Comfortable validating networked real-time systems (MAVLink, DDS, WebSockets), async I/O, and telemetry flows under constrained or lossy links.
Proficient with Linux and Windows test environments, CLI tooling, scripting (Python/Bash/PowerShell), and Git.
Experience integrating test suites into CI/CD (GitLab CI/Jenkins/GitHub Actions) and working with firmware packaging/bootloaders/OTA.
Strong exploratory testing, defect isolation, and written communication—able to translate flight and bring-up workflows into crisp, testable scenarios.
U.S. Citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Deep experience with HIL/SIL design (sensor and bus emulation, fault injection, golden-trace comparison) and data-driven test design.
Experience with PX4/ArduPilot middleware, uORB/parameters, and flight-control logging; familiarity with QGroundControl mission/telemetry workflows.
Protocol/domain knowledge: MAVLink, STANAG 4586, Cursor-on-Target, DDS/RTPS, CAN diagnostics.
Comfort with radios, GNSS, IMUs, payload interfaces, and lab bring-up; basic electronics (oscilloscope/logic-analyzer/JTAG) a plus.
Performance/reliability testing: stress/soak/latency, boot-time and watchdog behavior, power-interrupt/EMI considerations; awareness of DO-178C/DO-160/MIL-STD-810/461 practices.
Experience with Yocto/Buildroot, containerized benches (Docker/Podman), and artifact reproducibility.
Test management/reporting (e.g., TestRail/Jira) and metrics for release readiness.

Responsibilities

Own system test for avionics (embedded Linux + RTOS targets), providing fast, actionable feedback on functional defects, timing issues, and regressions that impact flight safety and operator trust.
Plan and execute risk-based strategies: feature/bring-up test plans, exploratory charters, protocol-level regression suites, acceptance criteria, and release sign-off gates ahead of Flight Test.
Build and maintain automation for HIL/SIL: SIL: host-based unit/integration tests for drivers and middleware (e.g., gtest/pytest), simulation of sensors/buses, fault-injection hooks. HIL: Python-driven benches to exercise serial/CAN/Ethernet I/O, sensor emulators, and power-cycle/bootloader/OTA flows; automate log capture and golden-trace diffs.
Stand up reproducible rigs: power supplies/electronic loads, CAN analyzers, logic analyzers, GNSS/sensor simulators, programmable RF links; script scenario playback and telemetry injection.
Validate robustness under degraded conditions: jitter, clock drift, packet loss/duplication, bus contention, brownouts, hot-plug, and watchdog resets; verify safe behavior and recovery paths.
Instrument and diagnose: collect structured logs/metrics; create packet and log scrapers; use Wireshark, logic-analyzer traces, and serial/TCP/UDP sniffers to isolate timing and state issues quickly.
Own defect triage: minimize and reproduce; file high-signal reports with traces, steps, suspected root cause; track to closure with responsible engineers.
Shift-left quality with the team: review code/IDLs from a testability lens, encourage dependency hygiene, feature flags, determinism controls, and golden datasets.
Integrate into CI/CD (GitLab/Jenkins): hardware runners for on-bench smoke, protocol/regression gates, and per-target artifact validation (e.g., .bin/.hex, DFU, OTA).
Contribute to safety, security, and reliability hardening aligned to MIL-STD/DO guidance (negative testing, fuzzing on parsers, permission audits, fail-safe defaults, persistent-state hygiene).
Produce crisp test docs (plans, procedures, bench/bring-up checklists) and mentor engineers on embedded QA techniques and automation patterns.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and visions plans
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
Unlimited PTO
Extremely generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in December.
Generous Parental Leave
FSA
HSA
Hospital Indemnity insurance
Critical Illness insurance
Accident insurance
Basic Life/AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance, 100% covered by Firestorm. Plus, the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your family.
Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy and more.
Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, are available to you as well.