Lead Software Engineer

Worker Type Regular

Job Description

Lead Software Engineer

Position Summary

The Lead Software Engineer will provide technical leadership for the design, development, integration, and delivery of a software plugin capability. The position will lead software development activities across a GitLab-based development environment, including integration with dedicated hardware platforms and the evolution toward cloud-enabled CI/CD pipelines. The Lead Software Engineer will establish software architecture, development standards, integration approaches, and automated build/test practices while remaining hands-on with implementation, troubleshooting, code reviews, and technical integration.

Position Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the overall software architecture for the plugin capability.
• Lead implementation of a modular plugin framework that supports current and future software capabilities.
• Establish coding standards, architectural patterns, repository structure, branching strategy, and development workflows.
• Provide technical direction to software developers and coordinate development across multiple stakeholders.
• Review software designs, merge requests, and significant code changes.
• Decompose system and software requirements into implementable software components and development tasks.
• Identify technical risks and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Coordinate software interfaces with hardware, systems engineering, modeling and simulation, test, and other engineering disciplines.
• Lead software integration, debugging, testing, and release activities.
• Establish repeatable processes for building, testing, packaging, and deploying software.
• Ensure software can be reproduced and deployed from controlled source-code repositories.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in: Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 8 years of Software Engineering experience.
• The ability to acquire and maintain a DOW TS/SCI clearance.
• Advanced proficiency in C++ or another object-oriented programming language.
• Strong understanding of object-oriented design, software architecture, design patterns, modular development, API/interface development, and multithreaded/concurrent software.
• Memory management, performance optimization, and software debugging.
• Experience designing or developing plugin-based, modular, or extensible software architectures.
• Experience with Git/GitLab, CI/CD pipelines, automated builds and testing, artifact management, packaging and deployment, versioning, dependency management, configuration management, and reproducible software releases.
• Experience integrating software with physical hardware, embedded systems, sensors, test equipment, or hardware-dependent interfaces.
• Ability to troubleshoot problems spanning software, operating systems, networking, interfaces, and hardware.
• Experience developing software in Windows and Linux environments.
• Ability to define and maintain technical requirements, software interfaces, development tasks, and acceptance criteria.
• Ability to execute build and test workloads across local, on-premises, and cloud-hosted runners.
• Demonstrated ability to perform and lead peer code reviews and enforce software-development standards.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations to software developers, systems engineers, program leadership, and customers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with modern C++ (C++20+), Python automation and tooling, CMake, containerization, GitLab Runners, software interfaces (REST/gRPC/ZeroMQ/DDS), cross-platform development, and automated code-quality/static-analysis tools.
• Design the development environment so existing on-premises processes can transition to or integrate with future cloud-based CI/CD infrastructure.
• Support containerized build and test environments where appropriate.
• Experience developing software for defense, aerospace, simulation, test, or other hardware-intensive engineering environments.
• Experience operating within Agile or iterative development environments.
• Experience in Wargaming and Directed Energy

Desired Leadership Attributes

• Capable of operating as both a technical lead and hands-on developer.
• Able to make architecture decisions while balancing near-term delivery with long-term maintainability.
• Comfortable leading software development in an evolving environment where hardware, interfaces, and deployment infrastructure may change over time.
• Able to mentor junior and mid-level developers.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to independently investigate complex integration issues.
• Able to establish software-development processes without creating unnecessary development overhead.
• Ability to resolve conflicts between stakeholders
• Strong communication skills with internal and external stakeholders

Physical Demands

• Travel required to domestic US sites – up to 10%.
• Ability to work in an office and manufacturing environment.
• Required to sit and stand for long periods (Frequent).
• Required to talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard (Frequent).

Clearance Level

The salary range for this role is:

AeroVironment considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the location, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills.

ITAR Requirement:

This position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants must qualify as a U.S. person under the ITAR and the EAR, or a person to be approved for an export license by the governing agency whose technology comes under its jurisdiction. Please understand that any job offer that requires approval of an export license will be conditional on AeroVironment’s determination that it will be able to obtain an export license in a time frame consistent with AeroVironment’s business requirements. A “U.S. person” according to the ITAR definition is a U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual such as a refugee or asylee. See 22 CFR § 120.15. Some positions will require current U.S. Citizenship due to contract requirements.

Benefits : AV offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401K with company matching, a 9/80 work schedule and a paid holiday shutdown. For more information about our company benefit offerings please visit:

We also encourage you to review our company website at to learn more about us.

Principals only need apply. NO agencies please.

About AV:

AV isn’t for everyone. We hire the curious, the relentless, the mission-obsessed. The best of the best.

We don’t just build defense technology—we redefine what’s possible. As the premier autonomous systems company in the U.S., AV delivers breakthrough capabilities across air, land, sea, space, and cyber. From AI-powered drones and loitering munitions to integrated autonomy and space resilience, our technologies shape the future of warfare and protect those who serve.

Founded by legendary innovator Dr. Paul MacCready, AV has spent over 50 years pushing the boundaries of what unmanned systems can do. Our heritage includes seven platforms in the Smithsonian—but we’re not building history, we’re building what’s next.

If you're ready to build technology that matters—with speed, scale, and purpose—there’s no better place to do it than AV.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. AeroVironment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic data, sexual orientation, gender identity or other legally protected status.

ITAR