Software Engineer

About Company

Founded in 2015, Global Air Logistics and Training, Inc. (GALT Aerospace) a rapid innovator, solving the world's critical security challenges to enable warriors to win...decisively. GALT Aerospace subscribes to Col John Boyd's tenet "Wars are won by people, ideas and equipment, IN THAT ORDER." Warfighters need tools (equipment) that are flexible. GALT Aerospace will always satisfy the warfighter with such tools. GALT Aerospace provides simple, effective information capabilities to support all levels of war and drive information to the lowest levels possible, enabling faster decision cycles and decisive results. GALT Aerospace uniquely focuses on architecture solutions, effective open systems integration, and rapid prototyping, fielding, and operations.

At GALT Aerospace, employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary and nationally relevant systems. GALT Aerospace looks for people who align with its Core Values:

• The Right Thing:
  • We work on important things that we are passionate about and will make a difference for the US National Security.
  • We are ethical and forthright and expect the same from our employees.
  • We operate with integrity in all things; we do the RIGHT THING.
• Trust and Respect:
  • We always strive to earn and foster trust.
  • We Act and communicate with respect.
  • We foster mutually beneficial relationships.
• Add Value:
  • We take ownership of our tasks and deliver results to our customers, partners and each other.
  • We champion individual expertise, creativity, and accomplishments.
  • We recognize that collaborative teams achieve even greater results.

Job Location

San Diego, CA, Onsite. Minimal domestic travel required.

Job Description

GALT Aerospace is seeking a full-time, salaried Software Engineer II or III to design, develop, integrate, and sustain software for complex aerospace and defense systems. This role involves full-stack software development, distributed systems, hardware/software integration, automation, and deployment into secure and disconnected environments. Contribute to the full software development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, architecture and design, implementation, integration, testing, deployment, and sustainment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Take ownership of and lead individual software features from requirements and design through implementation, integration, testing, and delivery.
• Collaborate with other software engineers and cross-functional engineering teams to integrate features into larger systems.
• Build and maintain full-stack applications, including front-end interfaces using Vue.js, APIs, and backend services primarily developed in Python.
• Design, develop, and integrate distributed software services using RPC, publish/subscribe messaging, and other inter-process or network communication patterns.
• Develop and integrate software interfaces using technologies such as Protocol Buffers and service-based APIs.
• Integrate software with external devices and hardware using serial interfaces, network protocols, and device-specific APIs.
• Integrate new features and capabilities into complex, multi-VM Systems-of-Systems deployed in secure, fully disconnected and air-gapped environments.
• Develop and maintain Ansible playbooks used to configure, provision, and deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems and Windows virtual machines.
• Develop, containerize, deploy, and troubleshoot software components using Podman and OCI-compatible container technologies.
• Develop and troubleshoot software running across Linux and Windows environments.
• Develop, integrate, and troubleshoot software deployed across physical and virtualized environments.
• Participate in code reviews, architecture discussions, technical planning, system integration activities, and internal process improvement initiatives.
• Explore and implement practical uses of artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) to improve software development, engineering workflows, system capabilities, and automation.
• Develop or integrate AI agents and agentic workflows capable of interacting with tools, APIs, software repositories, documentation, and other engineering resources.
• Troubleshoot complex issues spanning application software, distributed services, operating systems, networking, virtualization, containers, and hardware interfaces.

Required Skills, Experience, and Education

• Bachelor's degree in in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related STEM field.
• 5+ years of professional software development experience.
• Experience developing full-stack or distributed software applications using technologies such as:
• Python or similar programming languages
• js or similar modern front-end frameworks
• RESTful APIs and service-based architectures
• Bash and/or PowerShell scripting Knowledge of Linux administration (RHEL preferred)
• Strong software development fundamentals, including data structures, debugging, software design, and maintainable coding practices.
• Ability to independently own and drive software features from requirements through implementation, integration, and testing.
• Experience developing and troubleshooting software on Linux systems; Red Hat Enterprise Linux experience is preferred.
• Understanding of distributed application communication concepts, including RPC and publish/subscribe messaging.
• Experience integrating software with external systems, devices, or hardware interfaces.
• Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases and data stores.
• Experience developing and deploying containerized applications using Podman or other OCI-compatible container technologies.
• Proficiency with Git and standard version-control practices.
• Experience with Ansible or similar configuration and deployment automation technologies.
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills across software and system-level components.
• U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.

Preferred Skills, Experience and Education

• Hands-on experience using large language models (LLMs), generative AI, and AI agents as part of software development, engineering, or automation workflows .
• Experience developing or integrating AI agents and agentic workflows, particularly agents capable of interacting with tools, APIs, files, databases, source-code repositories, or other resources to perform multi-step engineering tasks.
• Experience with AI tool/function calling, Model Context Protocol (MCP), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), or similar approaches for connecting AI models with external systems and engineering data.
• Familiarity with local or on-premises AI infrastructure and technologies such as Ollama, Open WebUI, vLLM, Hugging Face, or similar tools.
• Familiarity with local or on-premises AI infrastructure and technologies such as Ollama, Open WebUI, vLLM, Hugging Face, or similar tools.
• Experience with Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) and RPC frameworks such as gRPC or similar technologies.
• Experience designing or developing systems using publish/subscribe messaging, event-driven architectures, message brokers, or similar distributed communication patterns.
• Experience developing and troubleshooting software interfaces with external hardware, including serial and other device communication protocols.
• Experience deploying, operating, or maintaining software in disconnected or air-gapped environments, including offline dependency and package management.
• Experience developing, deploying, or troubleshooting software in virtualized environments.
• Networking knowledge including TCP/IP, UDP, multicast, DNS, routing, firewalls, and virtual networking.
• Experience with low-level hardware/software integration, device APIs, drivers, GPIO, or Linux system interfaces.
• Familiarity with CI/CD and DevOps practices and tools such as Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, or similar platforms.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity best practices, secure software development, system hardening, and vulnerability management.
• Experience working within highly regulated, secure, or DoD software environments.
• Active DoD security clearance or the ability to reinstate a previously held clearance.
• Advanced degree or relevant technical certifications.

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to sit for long periods of time
• Person in this position needs to occasionally move about the facility
• Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery

Pay Scale

At GALT Aerospace, base pay is one part of the total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as one grows and develops within a role. The base pay for this role is between $130,000 -$160,000, and a specific candidate's base pay will depend on their skills, qualifications, experience, and location.