Senior Ground Software Engineer

About the Role

This is a greenfield opportunity to architect and own the entire ground software stack for an autonomous underwater vehicle platform at an early-stage defense company with active government contracts. You will build the full telemetry and command-and-control pipeline from scratch, getting data off vehicles in the field via satellite links and into cloud infrastructure for live viewing and long-term storage. The work is high-impact and moves fast.

What You'll Do

• Design and build the full telemetry pipeline, routing data transmitted from underwater vehicles through satellite links and into AWS for live dashboards and time-series storage.

• Design and implement the command-and-control system for issuing commands to vehicles deployed in the field.

• Write telemetry emission code in C/C++ or Rust on the embedded Linux side, plus Python-based data processing on the ground.

• Build auto-scaling AWS cloud infrastructure that adapts dynamically when multiple vehicles are deployed simultaneously on missions.

• Collaborate closely with embedded Linux engineers to define data formats, protocols, and reliable data-flow from vehicle to ground station.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of experience building telemetry systems for remotely operated vehicles such as drones, rockets, autonomous cars, or underwater vehicles, with ownership of the full telemetry and command-and-control pipeline.

• Proficiency in C/C++ or Rust for telemetry emission code on embedded Linux platforms; Python-only experience is not sufficient.

• Experience designing and implementing command-and-control systems for field-deployed vehicles.

• Strong knowledge of telemetry transport protocols and serialization formats including Protobuf, Kafka, UDP, and MQTT.

• Experience building auto-scaling AWS infrastructure for real-time multi-vehicle data ingestion and storage.

• Hands-on experience with satellite communications links for vehicle-to-cloud telemetry.

• Familiarity with time-series databases such as InfluxDB, TimescaleDB, or Prometheus for high-frequency vehicle telemetry.

• Background at a fast-paced robotics, aerospace, autonomous vehicle, or defense technology company is strongly preferred.

• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools such as Docker and Kubernetes is a plus.

• BS or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.

• U.S. citizenship required for security clearance eligibility; no visa sponsorship available.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary range: $140,000 to $220,000 USD annually. Substantial early-stage equity is included. No visa sponsorship is available.

Location

On-site, 5 days per week in Long Beach, Los Angeles area, California. No remote or hybrid option.