Manager, Mission Systems Software

Worker Type

Job Description

 

Summary

The Manager, Mission Systems Software, leads a large, multi-site team of software engineers building the onboard mission systems software for uncrewed aircraft, including vision-based navigation, autonomy, cooperative behaviors, and flight software. As a member of the Engineering management team, the Manager scales and develops the team through rapid growth, participates in defining and executing the software development strategy, budget, and program commitments, and partners with the Software Chief Engineer on technical direction.

Position Responsibilities:

• Manages a large, multi-site group of software engineers, including budget planning, staffing, training, performance evaluation and career development. Attracts and retains high caliber staff and provides mentorship
• Scales the team through rapid growth: drives hiring, onboarding, and the development of engineers into senior contributors and leads to keep pace with expanding program demand
• Partners with the Software Chief Engineer to shape the mission systems software roadmap and priorities, spanning vision-based navigation, autonomy, cooperative behaviors, and onboard flight software
• Plans, coordinates, and directs software development projects across multiple programs
• Works in an Agile environment to coordinate software development including scope, scheduling, resourcing, and block/release planning
• Champions software quality through design reviews, requirements-based testing, code coverage, and disciplined branching and release practices
• Guides the reuse of common software across programs to reduce sustainment burden and accelerate delivery
• Partners with systems engineering, GNC, hardware, test, and program teams to align software with system requirements and integration and flight-test milestones
• Frequently interacts with subordinate supervisors, customers and/or functional peer group managers, normally involving matters between functional areas
• Establishes and assures adherence to budgets, schedules and work plans. Interacts with senior management
• Other duties as assigned

Basic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience):

• BS degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related is required or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience
• 12+ years of software engineering experience, with a strong background in embedded, robotics, or mission systems software development
• At least 4+ years in a management or technical lead role, successfully leading a software team of 15 or more engineers
• Demonstrated success building and scaling a software team through a period of rapid growth
• Experience delivering flight-critical or mission-critical software through a full development lifecycle, from requirements through integration, test, and deployment
• Experienced with modern development and CI/CD tooling (e.g., Git/GitLab, CI pipelines, containerization) and Linux environments
• Demonstrated ability to work across software, systems, GNC, and program teams to deliver on program and customer milestones
• Occasionally may be required to travel within the Continental U.S.

Other Qualifications & Desired Competencies:

• Advanced degree is desired
• Background delivering software for UAS, drones, robotics, autonomous systems, or other defense or aerospace platforms is a strong plus
• Familiarity with mission systems domains such as computer vision, machine learning, autonomy, or GNC is a plus
• Familiarity with real-time flight software and robotics/autonomy software frameworks is a plus
• Familiarity with open-systems and airworthiness standards (e.g., MOSA, FACE, DO-178) is a plus
• Experience leading a distributed or multi-site team in a defense technology or fast-paced product environment is a plus
• Prior experience or clearance eligibility to support work in a controlled or cleared environment is a plus
• Demonstrates competency in communicating technically and effectively across software, systems, GNC, and program groups and staff
• Skilled at identifying, communicating and mitigating technical risks and issues
• Embraces AI-assisted development tooling and encourages its adoption to improve team efficiency and quality
• Demonstrates strong interpersonal, written and oral communication skills
• Exercises independent judgment in methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results
• Uses vision to think beyond the immediate situation, explore multiple potential paths, and adapt decision-making style based on the situational circumstances
• Inspir