Application Software Engineer

WORK LOCATION: San Luis Obispo, CA
FLSA STATUS: Exempt
SALARY RANGE: The anticipated salary range for this role is $104,000 to $129,000 annually. This range reflects a good faith estimate based on the targeted level for the role and typical compensation benchmarks across U.S. locations. Actual compensation may vary depending on the selected candidate’s qualifications, experience, geographical location, and internal alignment.
SUMMARY
The Application Software Engineer II is responsible for developing, testing, integrating, and maintaining operator-facing application software used in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) ground control, mission planning, telemetry visualization, and mission execution workflows. Engineers at this level contribute to software features and system integrations while applying strong software quality practices to ensure solutions are reliable, maintainable, and fit for operational use.
We are looking for someone with a solid foundation in software engineering principles, including requirements implementation, code quality, verification and validation, debugging, and technical documentation. Application Software Engineer II employees work collaboratively with software, avionics, systems, and test engineers to deliver well-tested software, resolve issues efficiently, and support the successful integration of software across the UAS ecosystem. Engineers at this level are expected to execute assigned work with increasing independence, maintain attention to detail, and promote a culture of quality throughout development, testing, and release activities.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Develop and enhance software applications supporting UAS operations and mission execution.
Implement features and resolve defects in accordance with requirements, design guidance, coding standards, and quality processes.
Participate in technical reviews to ensure software quality, reliability, and maintainability.
Plan, develop, and execute unit, integration, and system tests to verify functionality and requirements compliance.
Support system verification and validation by defining test objectives, methods, success criteria, and required data collection.
Build and maintain internal tools and automation that improve development, testing, verification, troubleshooting, and operational workflows.
Identify, investigate, and report software defects, integration issues, and system anomalies.
Collaborate with cross‑functional engineering teams to integrate software and support lab, ground, and flight test activities.
Prepare technical documentation such as test procedures, test reports, release notes, and troubleshooting guides, and support configuration management and release processes.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
The following are a non-exhaustive list of qualifications for the position:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related engineering discipline required.
2+ years of professional software development experience, or equivalent combination of education and applicable project experience.
Proficiency in one or more modern programming languages such as C#, Python, C++, or Java.
Experience designing, developing, testing, and debugging software applications.
Working knowledge of software development lifecycle
Experience developing and executing unit and integration tests
Ability to identify, document,