Director of Software Engineering
Role summary
A high-growth aerospace company is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead their software team and own the architecture of their next-generation autonomous aerial systems. This role requires a strong technical leader with experience in complex, hardware-integrated software stacks, including real-time and distributed systems. The Director will be responsible for scaling the team, developing hiring plans, setting engineering standards, and establishing robust development processes. The ideal candidate will have a background in mission-critical systems, embedded systems, robotics, or autonomous systems, and the ability to operate at both system and organizational levels. Relocation assistance is provided.
🛩️ Director of Software Engineering
📍 Los Angeles County, CA
💼 Full-time | On-site | Relocation assistance provided
Why Join Us
My client is a high-growth aerospace company building next-gen autonomous aerial systems for mission critical applications! The team has been quickly scaling over the past year and is now looking to bring on a Director of Software to guide both the software and the team.
This is for a true technical leader who can own architecture, guide engineering decisions, and build a high-performing team from the ground up.
What You'll Do
- Own the architecture of a complex, hardware-integrated software stack (real-time + distributed systems).
- Lead and scale a growing software team.
- Build hiring plans, identify skill gaps, and allocate resources across programs.
- Run design reviews and set engineering standards without needing to be in the code daily.
- Establish development processes that support both rapid iteration and long-term system reliability.
- Partner closely with hardware, systems, and program teams to deliver production-ready software.
Ideal Background
- Strong software architecture experience across complex, real-time or distributed systems.
- 5+ years leading and scaling software engineering teams in fast-moving environments.
- Experience building teams, identifying gaps, and driving hiring plans as the organization grows.
- Comfortable leading managers, handling performance, and shaping team structure.
- Background in embedded systems, robotics, autonomous systems, mechatronics, or similar hardware-integrated environments.
- Able to operate at both a system level (architecture, design decisions) and org level (team, process, execution).
- Experience working on mission-critical systems, ideally in regulated environments.
- Familiarity with edge compute platforms or robotics software stacks.
- Background in autonomy, perception, or large-scale deployments (robotics, AV, UAS, etc.) is a plus.
ITAR Clause
*To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable.*
*Apply ASAP to take advantage of this opportunity!*
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