Director of Embedded Software

Director of Embedded Software – Aerospace / Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)

📍 California, USA (Hybrid – Bay Area / Los Angeles)

💼 Full-time | Engineering Leadership

We are partnering with a leading organisation in the advanced air mobility sector to appoint a Director of Embedded Software to lead development of next-generation safety-critical flight and vehicle systems.

This is a senior technical leadership role at the core of a platform building certified electric aircraft and autonomous-capable aviation systems.

Role Overview

You will lead embedded software teams developing real-time, safety-critical systems across flight control, avionics integration, and vehicle management.

The role spans architecture, delivery, and certification support, working closely with systems engineering, hardware, flight test, and autonomy teams to bring complex aerospace systems into certified production.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead embedded software development for real-time flight and vehicle systems
• Define and own software architecture for safety-critical aerospace platforms
• Drive full lifecycle delivery: development, integration, verification, certification
• Ensure compliance with DO-178C and aerospace safety standards
• Oversee SIL/HIL testing and system integration with hardware and simulation environments
• Collaborate across avionics, autonomy, systems, and flight test functions
• Manage roadmap, execution, and cross-team technical dependencies
• Mentor senior engineers and engineering managers

Requirements

• 10+ years in embedded software engineering
• 3+ years in engineering leadership (Manager / Senior Manager / Director)
• Strong C/C++ embedded systems experience
• RTOS and/or embedded Linux experience
• Background in aerospace, UAVs, robotics, or safety-critical systems
• Proven delivery of production-grade embedded systems

Nice to Have

• Experience with DO-178C / ARP4754A certification
• Flight control, avionics, or autonomous systems background
• SIL/HIL testing or model-based development experience
• Experience scaling engineering teams in regulated environments

Compensation:

• Base Salary: $250,000 – $290,000
• Bonus: 20%
• Total Cash Compensation: $300,000 – $348,000
• Equity: Competitive director-level equity package (bringing total compensation potential to $270,000 – $410,000+ )
• Full benefits + hybrid flexibility + relocation support

Why This Role

This is a rare opportunity to shape the embedded software backbone of certified electric aviation platforms at scale, operating at the intersection of aerospace rigor and modern autonomous systems engineering.

If this role is of interest, please apply via the link and I will contact you!