About this role
Salary: £90,000 - 90,000 per year
Requirements: Significant hands-on software engineering experience, ideally around 10 years or more, with a strong background in embedded or real-time systems.Experience taking airborne software through the full DO-178C lifecycle and supporting aircraft certification activities.Strong C programming skills, with practical experience in C++ and Python.Sound understanding of software architecture, design trade-offs, debugging and verification in safety-critical or highly regulated environments.Experience working with multidisciplinary engineering teams and translating complex technical issues into clear options and decisions.A collaborative, pragmatic approach, with the ability to mentor others while maintaining hands-on delivery.Familiarity with related standards and guidance such as DO-330, DO-331, DO-332, DO-333, ARP4754A/B, DO-278, DEF STAN 00-55 or DEF STAN 00-56 would be beneficial. Responsibilities: Design, develop, test and maintain embedded software for airborne systems, primarily using C, with C++ and Python where appropriate.Contribute across requirements, architecture, detailed design, implementation, integration, verification and certification support.Work closely with systems, hardware, test and flight operations teams to diagnose issues, make sound technical decisions and deliver aircraft-level outcomes.Lead and contribute to software architecture discussions, technical reviews, code reviews and engineering best practice.Support software integration, debugging, test automation and continuous improvement of development processes.Provide technical guidance and mentoring to other engineers, helping our team build capability and confidence.Assess new tools, methods and technologies where they can improve quality, reliability or productivity. Technologies: EmbeddedHardwareSupportPythonC++ More:
We are AALTO, an Airbus subsidiary and global leader in Stratospace, based in Farnborough. We manufacture, operate and deliver services using Zephyr, our solar-powered stratospheric platform. Our Principal Software Engineer will take a senior individual contributor role in a multidisciplinary team developing safety-critical aircraft software, working across the software lifecycle and helping shape engineering decisions and delivery standards. This is a full-time, permanent, hybrid role with 37-hour weeks. We offer a market-aligned salary, a short-term incentive plan, 25 days of holiday, private medical insurance, dental and optical cashback, a pension plan, income protection, life assurance, a salary-sacrifice vehicle scheme, an employee assistance programme and Perkbox discounts. We are open to discussing practical solutions for flexible working requests.
last updated 40 week of 2026