Lead Software Engineer, Merlin Labs
Avionics
Aviation tech for fully autonomous flight
Job no longer available
Aviation tech for fully autonomous flight
101-200 employees
Job no longer available
101-200 employees
Company mission
To build the AI-powered operating system of record that allows aircraft, large and small, to fly autonomously.
Role
Who you are
- Are you an experienced avionics software engineer looking to make a significant impact in your aerospace career? An impact that you can’t make in big aerospace?
- BS in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related subject
- 5+ years of experience in leading software teams in development of embedded software
- 10+ years of experience in embedded software development with demonstrable knowledge of C/C++
- Expertise in Matlab/Simulink or Ansys SCADE model-based development
- Experience developing certified software for flight control systems, flight management systems, or other safety critical avionics systems
- Experience in verification of embedded model-based or C/C++ developed software
- Experience designing and implementing software for real-time operating systems (RTOS), with strong knowledge of low level topics such as device driver development, interrupt handling, memory management, and performance estimation
- Demonstrable experience developing software in accordance with RTCA DO-178C
- Excellent communication skills
Desirable
- Experience in one or more areas of robotics and autonomy, such as estimation, control, navigation, or computer vision
What the job involves
- Would you like to own a significant percentage of the flight software product? If so, you might be a good fit for the team in a Lead Software Engineer role here at Merlin
- Responsible for leading the design and development of the autonomous flight software, contributing to both lower level embedded software and higher level autonomy function areas
- Take part in designing and developing the software architecture for our safety critical systems
- Provide leadership by example - define and implement process, write and test code, generate documentation, and ensure our product ships and performs to the highest quality
- Drive the progress of the development of the software to project and certification milestones
- Take part in maintaining the configuration and quality of the software by driving development to the established standards and procedures
- Communicate and collaborate cross-functionally to improve software by providing recommendations to update system requirements, architecture, or hardware to resolve issues
- Collaborate across Merlin to develop novel, certifiable systems to solve the toughest problems in aviation and autonomy
- Assist in hiring and mentoring to lead a strong and collaborative avionics software team
Our take
Companies like Xwing and Reliable Robotics are retrofitting aircrafts for full autonomy, however, Merlin Labs is taking a different route. Rather than building its own aircradt, it's developing the Merlin Pilot - an autonomous flight system designed to integrate into existing fleets. And this systems-first approach is gaining rel traction across commercial and defense sectors.
Instead of developing an autonomous vehicle, the company has designed configurable software that can be fitted into any plane to turn it into one. It’s already received certification from the FAA in the US, and the CAA in New Zealand; now, the goal is to get it fitted into large commercial aircraft to help reduce crew sizes. Ultimately, Merlin Labs is hoping its software will be used to fly smaller aircraft completely autonomously.
Providing a way for non-autonomous aircraft to be repurposed is a neat and attractive solution: costly aircraft needn’t be scrapped, human co-pilots don’t require retraining, and there’s a wealth of existing commercial and private applications for the software. So it’s an astute way of manoeuvring ahead of well-funded competition. Investors are paying attention, as are top-tier clients: Merlin has partnered with the likes of Ameriflight, the U.S. Air Force, and Dynamic Aviation, and pulled in millions of dollars of funding. It will need it: the competition is fierce.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
55% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 8 rounds)
Apr 2023
$1m
GRANT
Jul 2022
$105m
SERIES B
Total funding: $170.8m
Company HQ
Leather District, Boston, MA
Leadership
Matt George
(CEO)Served in an OPC role at The White House, then on the Senior Advisory Board at Boston 2024. Went on to found and lead tech company Bridj.
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