About Careertakes

👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, Defense and Space Manufacturing.

Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.

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What You’ll Do

You will be a core software engineer on a product that auto-generates complete, manufacturable UAS (unmanned aircraft system) designs from mission requirements and you'll contribute across the broader software stack. Your work will directly produce aircraft designs that get printed, flown, and iterated rapidly.

• Design and build features for the design-generation pipeline: geometry handling, performance prediction, and user workflows
• Implement and test scientific/engineering code for performance and reliability
• Integrate software with operational and compliance tooling to support Authority to Operate (ATO) workflows
• Contribute to and maintain open-source and internal codebases used across design, control, and ground systems
• Build internal tooling to accelerate design-to-manufacture and flight-test workflows
• Collaborate closely with aerodynamics, electrical, and manufacturing teams; take ownership end-to-end from scoping through shipping and iteration

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Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience shipping production products (10+ years preferred)
• Deep proficiency in Python; experience with C++ or TypeScript is welcomed
• Comfortable with geometry and math-heavy code or scientific/engineering computing
• Proven ability to own features end-to-end: scoping, building, testing, shipping, and iterating
• Startup mindset: pragmatic, fast, and focused on impact rather than process

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Nice to Have

• Experience with UAS/drone ecosystems (ArduPilot, PX4, MAVLink) or ground control software (QGroundControl, Mission Planner)
• Background in CAD/geometry kernels, computational geometry, or 3D graphics (OpenVSP, Blender, Fusion360, mesh processing)
• Experience building desktop or mobile applications (JavaFX, Qt, Kotlin)
• Hands-on hobbies like FPV flying, RC aircraft, or 3D printing

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Details

• Work location: Torrance, CA — on-site (you'll see designs printed and flown in the same facility)
• Employment type: Full-time
• Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• Clearance / eligibility: Due to the nature of the work with the U.S. Department of Defense, applicants must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident)
• Tooling: modern stack and AI-assisted coding agents are allowed and encouraged; experienced engineers must exercise sound judgment and ownership
• Experience level: Mid-to-senior (5+ years required; senior experience preferred)

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Compensation

• Pay range: $130,000 - $180,000 per year (posted by the confidential client). Final offer depends on experience, skills, and applicable state/local guidelines.
• Benefits: Competitive benefits and other standard employer-provided offerings (details provided during interview/offer stage).

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Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency

Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.

If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.