Senior Field Software Engineer, Advanced Missions sGroup

PDW is building tactical robotic systems for defense, national security, and public safety missions. The Senior Field Software Engineer will work with operators, customers, and engineering teams to rapidly prototype, integrate, test, and deploy mission-relevant software capabilities in field environments.

Responsibilities:

• Work directly with operators and customers during discovery sessions, demonstrations, exercises, and field tests to understand mission problems and identify the smallest useful software solution
• Translate ambiguous or rapidly changing operational needs into clear software behaviors, interface requirements, test criteria, and short execution plans
• Design, build, modify, and deploy proof-of-concept software, scripts, middleware, interface adapters, data pipelines, and operator workflows that validate new mission capabilities
• Integrate third-party hardware and software, including payloads, sensors, communications systems, command-and-control tools, and vendor applications, using available APIs, SDKs, protocols, and data formats
• Troubleshoot across the full system in real time, including application behavior, Linux environments, network connectivity, configuration, logs, timing, data exchange, and hardware-software interfaces
• Make disciplined tradeoffs between speed, reliability, safety, and technical debt; define the operating limits of prototypes and avoid introducing unvalidated changes into safety-critical flight functions
• Conduct rapid test and iteration cycles with operators, capture feedback, and adjust software at the point of need when mission conditions or customer priorities change
• Create lightweight test tools, simulators, deployment packages, and repeatable development environments that make integrations easier to reproduce and demonstrate
• Document interfaces, assumptions, dependencies, known limitations, test results, and recommended next steps so successful prototypes can transition to product engineering
• Partner closely with AMG Solutions Engineering, Product, Autonomy, Embedded Software, Flight Operations, Mission Systems, and Go-to-Market teams
• Provide concise field reports and technical debriefs that distinguish confirmed findings from hypotheses and translate customer feedback into actionable engineering work
• Protect customer information and ensure all work complies with applicable safety, ITAR, export-control, cybersecurity, and operational-security requirements

Requirements:

• 5 or more years of professional software development, systems integration, field engineering, or equivalent hands-on technical experience
• Demonstrated ability to rapidly prototype, debug, and deploy software in ambiguous, time-constrained environments
• Strong software development experience in C++ and Python, or equivalent experience with systems-oriented and scripting languages
• Strong working knowledge of Linux-based development and deployment, command-line tools, process and service management, logs, permissions, and networking
• Familiarity with UAS and robotics interfaces or ecosystems such as MAVLink, ROS 2, DDS, TAK or ATAK, and Cursor on Target
• Experience integrating third-party systems through APIs, SDKs, libraries, network protocols, serial interfaces, or vendor-provided tools
• Practical knowledge of TCP/IP networking, including TCP and UDP communications, routing, addressing, ports, and packet-level troubleshooting
• Ability to diagnose problems across application, operating-system, network, and hardware boundaries using incomplete information
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work directly with operators, customers, partner engineers, and internal technical teams
• Ability to work independently in field environments while maintaining alignment, configuration control, and clear communication with the broader team
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• U.S. Citizenship and eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance or higher, as required
• Experience with Qt and QML, Android development, or cross-platform operator applications
• Working knowledge of embedded Linux, cross-compilation, device interfaces, or hardware-in-the-loop testing
• Experience integrating sensors, payloads, video or telemetry systems, tactical radios, or edge-compute devices
• Experience using containers, continuous integration tools, automated testing, or infrastructure that supports repeatable field deployments