Software Engineer, Mission Autonomy

Software Engineer, Mission Autonomy Huntington Beach, California, United States About Mach Industries Founded in 2023, Mach Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology company focused on developing next-generation autonomous defense platforms. At the core of our mission is the commitment to delivering scalable, decentralized defense systems that enhance the strategic capabilities of the United States and its allies. With a workforce of approximately 350 employees, we operate with startup agility and ambition. Our vision is to redefine the future of warfare through cutting-edge manufacturing, innovation at speed, and unwavering focus on national security. We are dedicated to solving the next generation of warfare with lethal systems that deter kinetic conflict and protect global security. The Role Mach Industries is seeking a Software Engineer, Mission Autonomy to develop the software that translates mission objectives and operator goals into reliable autonomous behavior. You will design and implement mission-planning, decision-making, task-execution, and contingency-management capabilities for Mach's autonomous aerial platforms. Your work will connect high-level mission intent with vehicle autonomy, flight software, perception, communications, payloads, and ground-control systems. This is a broad software-engineering role for someone comfortable working across system boundaries. You should be able to write production-quality C++ and Python, reason about complex autonomous behavior, debug integrated software and vehicle systems, and take capabilities from initial concept through simulation, flight test, and operational deployment. Key Responsibilities Design, implement, test, and deploy mission-autonomy software using modern C++ Use Python to develop tooling for analysis, simulation, test automation, and mission evaluation. Develop software for mission planning, task sequencing, behavior orchestration, state management, and autonomous mission execution. Build decision-making and contingency-management systems that respond appropriately to vehicle health, sensor availability, communications loss, environmental changes, and mission updates. Translate concepts of operation, mission objectives, system requirements, and test objectives into well-defined autonomous behaviors and software interfaces. Integrate mission software with flight controls, navigation, perception, payloads, communications, ground-control systems, and operator interfaces. Design clear and reliable interfaces between high-level mission logic and lower-level vehicle capabilities. Develop systems that continue operating effectively when communications, GNSS, sensing, or other resources are degraded or unavailable. Support multi-vehicle mission execution, distributed coordination, and collaborative behaviors where applicable. Build simulation scenarios, software-in-the-loop tests, hardware-in-the-loop tests, mission replays, and automated regression tests. Define mission-level measures of performance and develop evaluation tooling for mission completion, timing, robustness, fault recovery, resource utilization, and operator workload. Analyze telemetry, logs, test results, and flight data to identify failures, improve behavior, and drive rapid iteration. Work closely with flight software, GNC, perception, systems engineering, ground-control, flight-test, and hardware teams to deliver complete vehicle capabilities. Participate in ground and flight testing, including debugging integrated systems in field environments. Contribute to software architecture, code reviews, development practices, technical documentation, and continuous integration. Required Qualifications Strong software-engineering skills in modern C++ and Python. Experience developing production software on Linux. Experience developing software for autonomous systems, robotics, or aerospace platforms. Hands-on experience implementing one or more mission-autonomy capabilities, such as task planning, behavior trees, state machines, hierarchical planning, decision-making, mission execution, or contingency management. Strong understanding of software architecture, interfaces, concurrency, data flow, and system-level debugging. Ability to write clean, testable, maintainable, and well-documented software. Experience taking software from prototype through integration, testing, and deployment on real hardware. Ability to diagnose failures using logs, telemetry, simulation results, and observed system behavior. Strong technical ownership and the ability to work effectively across multiple engineering disciplines. Clear written and verbal communication skills. Strong engineering judgment and integrity when balancing mission effectiveness, safety, reliability, latency, resource constraints, and operational simplicity. Preferred Qualifications Three or more years of professional experience developing software for autonomous vehicles, UAVs, robotics, aerospace, or defense systems. Experience with autonomous aerial vehicles or optionally piloted aircraft. Experience designing mission planners, behavior trees, executive systems, task schedulers, or autonomy state machines. Experience with multi-agent systems, collaborative autonomy, distributed task allocation, or swarm coordination. Familiarity with guidance, navigation, controls, state estimation, perception, or motion planning sufficient to integrate effectively with those systems. Experience designing software for intermittent, bandwidth-constrained, degraded, or denied communications environments. Experience with fault detection, graceful degradation, abort logic, recovery behaviors, and safety-critical state management. Experience deploying software on embedded Linux systems, edge computers, or resource-constrained platforms. Experience with simulation, software-in-the-loop testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, scenario generation, Monte Carlo testing, or automated mission evaluation. Experience building ground-control, command-and-control, or human-machine-interface software. Experience participating in flight testing, range operations, or field deployment of experimental systems and working through the practical challenges of real-world operations. Experience with Rust, particularly for systems programming, embedded software, or safety- and performance-critical applications. ITAR Requirements To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here. Engineer $125,000 - $160,000 USD Senior Engineer $165,000 - $220,000 USD At Mach, we believe that compensation is more than just a paycheck. It's a comprehensive package designed to reward the time, skills, and expertise you bring to our team. We are committed to offering competitive compensation that is equitable, transparent, and aligned with market trends. Key Elements of Our Compensation Philosophy: Competitive Salaries: We continuously research market rates to ensure our salaries are competitive with those in our industry and geographic location. Performance-Based Incentives: Our bonus structure is tied to both individual and company performance, creating a win-win scenario that motivates our team members to excel. Equity Participation: We offer stock options or equity to employees, ensuring that you share in the success and growth of the company. Benefit Packages: Our benefits include healthcare, dental and vision plans, retirement savings, and paid time off, because we understand that your well-being extends beyond the office. Professional Development: We allocate funds for continuing education, training, and career growth. Transparency: We are committed to openness about our compensation tiers and how decisions are made, ensuring trust and mutual respect. By joining Mach, you're not just accepting a job—you're becoming a key part of a team that values your contributions and invests in your growth. Together, we aim to create a rewarding environment that sets the stage for long-term success. Data Privacy To view Mach Industries candidate data privacy policy, please visit Disclosures This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Please note that any offer for employment may be conditioned on authorization to receive software or technology controlled Mach Industries