Effector Guidance Software Engineer

CHAOS Inc. is a global technology company delivering next-generation capabilities to the defense and critical industrial sectors. Founded in 2022 by a seasoned leadership team, CHAOS has quickly become the place where world-class multi-disciplinary engineers come to build mission-critical technologies. CHAOS has a mission-focused culture, dedicated to solving the toughest technical challenges. Its unique agile engineering approach enables rapid prototyping, while deep partnerships with defense and industry ensure real-world solutions.

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking a highly-skilled and motivated Senior Guidance Software Engineer to join our R&D team. You will get an opportunity to lead the design of our guidance software on a clean sheet airframe design. As a member of Engineering, you also have the opportunity to expand your skillset across our product families. 

Responsibilities:

• Implementation of guidance and navigation software within COTS software frameworks
• Support airframe design activities
• Support system integration of software on flight hardware
• Work full-time on-site in our office in Los Angeles (Hawthorne), California

Minimum Requirements:

• Minimum education: Bachelor’s or higher Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related degree
• 10+ years of experience in professional, object-oriented software development
• Experience with design and implementation of guidance algorithms for UAS platforms using commercial autopilot frameworks like ArduPilot
• Practical understanding of flight dynamics of fixed wing and rotary wing platforms
• Solid understanding and extensive experience in software development on microcontroller architectures (STM32 or similar) and on Linux hosted on Nvidia Jetson, AMD/Xilinx SoC or Microblaze architectures
• Experience developing real-time embedded software to include hardware interfaces
• Experience with integration of vendor provided low-level drivers and firmware
• Experience with Agile lifecycle processes including Scrum, Continuous Integration, and Test-Driven Development Methodologies
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and collaborate on small teams
• U.S. Person status is required as this position will require the ability to access U.S.-only data system

Preferred Requirements: 

• Current or previous DoD security clearance 
• Part 107 remote pilot certification
• Experience with EO/IR sensor integration
• Experience with radar sensor integration
• Experience with firmware development using VHDL and embedded software development flow on AMD/Xilinx FPGAs
• Experience with git
• Experience with production-level SW development & deployment, including DevOps, DevSecOps, and/or Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) using modern FOSS/COTS toolsets
• Experience with full lifecycle SW development of high-TRL systems
• Experience with HW/SW I&T and V&V of high-TRL systems

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Your medical, dental and vision benefits will be 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: life, FSA, HSA, 401k (+ Company match), and more
• Our Perks: free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance + (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Company Size: 150 employees and counting!
• More About Us: We're building the next generation of aerospace, defense and critical industry technologies with a seasoned team of mission-focused individuals. We were founded in June 2022 and our goal is to become the platform where world-class engineers come to solve critical, real-world problems. We use agile engineering approaches which enable rapid prototyping, deep partnerships with the defense industry ensuring real-world application, and our newly-invented Coherence platform (through which we’ve made a fundamental breakthrough) improves sensor performance and decision-making in real-time. As of April 2025 we have raised $490M (including a $275M Series C at a $2B valuation) from some of the most prominent VC funds and investors including Accel, NEA, 8VC, and Valar. With a managing team that includes Epirus’ founding members (responsible for building a $1.5B company from scratch) + key drivers from Palantir (instrumental in Palantir’s growth to $1B in revenue), we are well-positioned to become one of the fastest growing companies to date!