Mission Systems Manager

About the Role

We are seeking a Mission Systems Manager to lead the development of our Fire Control System (FCS) and associated mission software capabilities.

The Mission Systems team owns the software connecting sensors, command and control systems, operators, and interceptor platforms into an integrated air defense capability. This includes radar and sensor integration, track processing, engagement management, mission execution, ground control software, and interoperability with external systems.

You will lead a small team of software engineers while remaining deeply involved in hands-on development. This role is expected to dedicate at least 50% of its time to technical work, including writing production code, designing software architectures, debugging complex systems, and supporting integration and testing.

We are looking for an experienced software engineer who enjoys building systems, solving challenging technical problems, and mentoring other engineers. This is an opportunity to take ownership of a critical software capability while helping grow the team and shape its technical direction.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a small team of Mission Systems engineers, including technical direction, hiring, professional development, and performance management.
• Contribute directly to the design, implementation, testing, and debugging of production mission software, with at least 50% of time dedicated to hands-on technical work.
• Own the architecture, development, integration, and delivery of the Fire Control System and associated mission software, including ground control applications, mission management, and engagement management.
• Develop software for radar and sensor integration, track processing, target management, and mission execution.
• Design and implement reliable, real-time and distributed software architectures connecting sensors, ground computing systems, operators, and interceptor platforms.
• Develop and integrate communication interfaces, networking protocols, messaging systems, APIs, and data exchange mechanisms.
• Integrate with external command and control systems, military networks, third-party sensors, and customer-provided equipment.
• Ensure reliable operation under challenging network and operational conditions, including intermittent connectivity, degraded communications, and disconnected environments.
• Develop and deploy software on Linux-based computing platforms, including reproducible builds, configuration management, and automated deployment workflows using Nix, NixOS, and associated development tooling.
• Incorporate security best practices into mission software architecture and development, including authentication, authorization, secure communications, and protection of networked systems.
• Develop and maintain mission software simulation environments, test harnesses, and automated integration testing capabilities.
• Collaborate closely with Flight Software, GNC, Simulation, Systems Engineering, and Integration & Test teams to support end-to-end system integration and verification.
• Support technical integration activities with government customers, industry partners, and external system providers.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards for software quality, reliability, testing, code review, and documentation.
• Own Mission Systems software releases, configuration control, and technical readiness for integrated demonstrations and operational deployments.
• Identify technical risks, prioritize engineering work, and drive execution against aggressive development schedules.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant experience developing distributed, real-time, or mission-critical software systems.
• Strong proficiency in C++ and experience developing production software on Linux platforms.
• Experience designing and implementing distributed, networked, or real-time software architectures.
• Strong understanding of networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP, UDP, messaging architectures, and interface design.
• Experience integrating software with physical hardware, sensors, or external systems.
• Demonstrated technical leadership through mentoring engineers, leading technical projects, or managing small engineering teams.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver complex software systems from architecture through integration and testing.
• Willingness and ability to remain deeply hands-on with software development while leading a small team.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing fire control systems, air defense systems, command and control software, or other mission-critical defense systems.
• Familiarity with radar systems, target tracking, track processing, sensor fusion, or real-time sensor data processing.
• Experience with engagement management, mission planning, or weapon system integration.
• Familiarity with military interoperability standards and interfaces such as Link 16, Cursor on Target (CoT), or related tactical data exchange protocols.
• Experience integrating with military command and control architectures, tactical networks, or government-provided systems.
• Experience with distributed systems operating in degraded or disconnected network environments.
• Familiarity with software and network security, including authentication, authorization, cryptographic communications, and vulnerability management.
• Experience with Nix, NixOS, reproducible builds, or declarative system configuration.
• Experience with operator-facing applications, graphical user interfaces, or human-machine interfaces for complex technical systems.
• Experience developing simulation environments, automated integration tests, or software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing infrastructure.
• Experience with CI/CD, software release management, and configuration control.
• Experience supporting system integration events, customer demonstrations, field testing, or operational deployments.
• Experience leading small engineering teams in a startup or rapidly evolving engineering organization.

What Success Looks Like

• The Fire Control System reliably integrates sensors, operators, command and control systems, and interceptor platforms.
• The manager makes substantial direct technical contributions while effectively leading and developing the team.
• Mission software supports new sensors, external interfaces, and operational configurations without extensive rework.
• Distributed mission software operates reliably across deployed computing platforms and challenging network environments.
• Software builds and deployments are reproducible, tested, secure, and configuration-controlled.
• Mission Systems software is delivered predictably in support of integration events, field testing, and customer demonstrations.
• The team demonstrates strong technical ownership, engineering quality, and consistent execution.