Senior Software Engineer, Dropship and Cargo

About Pyka Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation. To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems.  We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes. Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in their respective industries.  What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day. 

Role Overview Pyka is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to be the software owner of our Dropship and Cargo programs. The software problems in these programs span the stack: path planning over long ranges, controls for a new airframe, integration of new sensors, engine control and state-of-charge management on a hybrid powertrain, and incorporating weather into how a mission is planned and flown. You will be responsible for the software behavior of these aircraft as a whole — what it needs to do, how the pieces fit together, and whether it is ready to fly — and you will be the engineer the Dropship team comes to when software is the open question on their side.

Some of the current and future projects you will likely contribute to include: Path planning for long-range cargo missions that accounts for energy state, winds aloft, and weather along the route Energy management on a hybrid powertrain: engine control, state-of-charge policy, and how the aircraft trades power against range, payload, and reserve Flight controls and handling for a new airframe, from simulation through flight test Integrating new sensors and payload systems, and defining the software needs before the hardware is fixed Turning operational feedback from cargo flights into requirements for the next iteration of the aircraft Defining what mission planning and ground tools need to expose to operators flying these aircraft

Responsibilities Own the software for the Dropship and Cargo programs: collect requirements from our test teams and commercial and military customers, define what the aircraft needs to do, build most of it, and specify the remainder clearly enough for others to build against

Delegate work when scope requires it, and stay accountable for the result either way

Break down ambiguous problems (e.g., new aircraft capabilities, energy and range tradeoffs, operational tooling) into plans, and adapt them as flight test and operations produce new information

Write production-quality code in C++17 and Python across the aircraft stack, including testing and validation

Support flight testing directly: be present for tests, review flight data, and diagnose what the aircraft did and why

Work with propulsion, hardware, product, and flight operations to make practical tradeoffs between range, payload, reserve, and schedule

Represent software in program-level decisions, including giving the program an honest read on what is and is not ready

Provide technical leadership through design reviews, debugging support, and mentorship of other engineers

Preferred Qualifications 5+ years of professional experience with C++ (ideally C++11 or newer)

Professional experience with Python

Depth in at least one of: path planning, controls, state estimation, sensor integration, or embedded and powertrain control

A track record of taking ownership of unfamiliar technical domains

Experience owning software for a subsystem across multiple teams

Experience working on real-world robotic or vehicle systems, especially where software interacts with hardware

Exposure to energy management, hybrid or electric powertrains, or engine control is a plus

Comfort working across the stack from low-level systems to user-facing tools

Working knowledge of trigonometry and linear algebra

Willingness to travel to flight test and field sites

Compensation & Benefits $166,000–$205,000 salary per year + equity. Compensation will vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Salary ranges are subject to change.

Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance

FSA with employer matching

401(k)

Paid holidays, generous PTO, and additional unpaid time off

Voluntary short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance

Pre-tax commuter benefits

Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks

Export Control Requirements This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls.  Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items.  Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions.

-- We do not work with external recruiters; if you are an external recruiter, please do not reach out.