Senior Software Engineer, Operator Tools

Elroy Air

Byron, CA remote Until 8/25/2026 5+ years exp H-1B sponsor history First posted June 26, 2026 Last posted June 26, 2026

Job description

At Elroy Air, we build autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) cargo drones to change the way the world moves goods. Transporting cargo by air is faster and more direct than by land or sea, but it has been prohibitively expensive for medium-size loads. We've set out to expand middle-mile logistics possibilities across multiple sectors, with our sights on a $420Bn global total addressable market for cargo logistics across defense, commercial and rapid response.

We are a team of builders, engineers, and operators who believe that the defense, commercial, and rapid response communities need faster, better logistics solutions. We are seeing increasing demand as customers and prospects respond enthusiastically to the systems we’ve built. As we mature and deploy our offerings, we are looking for people like you: motivated collaborators, enthusiastic about our mission and ready to roll up their sleeves and make a big impact to improve how logistics works around the world. You will play an important role in establishing the Elroy Air Chaparral as the industry standard in this massive market.

We believe diverse perspectives at all levels of the organization are critical to innovation and employee development. This includes but is not limited to gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression, religion, age, ability, parenthood status, veteran status, educational background, citizenship status, or any combination of these characteristics.

Elroy builds autonomous aerospace systems for the real world. The people who deploy, maintain, and operate those systems need software that is clear, fast, and trustworthy under pressure. Our operator tooling team builds the desktop applications, visualization interfaces, and ground support software that bridge the gap between the vehicle and the humans responsible for it. If you care deeply about the operator experience, have strong instincts for software architecture, and aren’t afraid to venture into the embedded or cloud layers when the problem demands it, this role is for you.

The Role

As a Senior Software Engineer on the Operator Tools team, you will design and build the desktop applications and interfaces that Elroy’s operators and engineers use every day. This includes mission planning tools, real-time telemetry displays, diagnostic interfaces, and ground support workflows. However, this is not a pure front-end role: you will collaborate closely with engineers from a wide variety of disciplines including embedded systems, control systems, flight physics, and power electronics. You will need enough systems intuition to understand the data you’re visualizing and the workflows you’re supporting.

What You'll Work On

Desktop application development for mission planning, real-time telemetry, and vehicle diagnostics (Qt, Electron, or similar native/hybrid desktop frameworks)

Visualization and data presentation for complex, time-series, and spatial data from autonomous systems

Communication interfaces between desktop tools and embedded systems (serial, UDP, custom protocols, MAVLink or similar)

Ground support tooling: calibration workflows, pre-flight checks, log analysis, and fleet management interfaces

Collaboration with the simulation infrastructure team to expose cloud batch results in accessible, actionable UI

Web-based data analysis and visualization tools that connect to cloud databases. Think interactive flight data replay, post-mission analysis dashboards, and fleet-level trend reporting

C++ and Python development across the stack; comfort moving between application logic and lower-level interfaces

Contribution to the team’s overall software architecture and developer experience, particularly for tooling and internal platforms

What We're Looking For

You probably have:

5+ years of professional software development, with experience across desktop application development and web-based tools, ideally both

Strong C++ and/or Python skills; experience structuring non-trivial desktop applications

A track record of building UIs that are usable under real-world operational conditions, not just demos

Ability to work across the stack: from application logic down to protocol parsing or up to data visualization

Experience integrating applications with real hardware or real-time data sources

High standards for software architecture, API design, and internal tooling quality

It’s a bonus if you have:

Experience in aerospace, defense, robotics, or other safety-critical domains

Familiarity with embedded software concepts: you don’t need to write firmware, but you should be able to read it, build it, run it, and understand its constraints

Experience with cloud-based simulation or batch processing infrastructure

Exposure to geospatial visualization, 3D rendering, or time-series data at scale

Our Stack

Primary languages: C++ and Python

Desktop frameworks: Qt and/or Electron (we’re pragmatic and flexible about tooling choices)

Web UI: React or similar modern framework for cloud-connected data visualization and analysis tools; backends in Python

Data: custom telemetry protocols, time-series logs, simulation output from cloud batch runners

Version control and CI: Git, GitHub, cloud-based batch simulation and test runners

Modern AI coding tools used as productivity accelerators, not as a substitute for engineering judgment

Who We Are

Elroy’s software team is small, senior, and exceptionally cross-functional. Most engineers here are comfortable working across embedded firmware, desktop tools, and cloud infrastructure. Not because we expect everyone to be an expert in everything, but because we value curiosity and adaptability over and above having all of the answers on day one. We’re looking for someone who brings deep experience in development of operator/user-facing tooling, and is excited to share it.

What We Offer:

Competitive salary

Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced aerospace company

Comprehensive medical benefits

401(k) with company contribution + Roth IRA

Free daily lunch provided onsite

Flexible time-off policy

3 months of paid parental leave

Employee assistance program with 24/7 support

High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy

Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement

You’ll work with a motivated, kind, and highly skilled team

You'll help shape and define our company culture and values

You'll help build and scale a new category of aerospace / logistics technology

We encourage you to apply even if you aren't an exact match for our open role as many of our team members come from nontraditional backgrounds.

Elroy Air is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We are committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace and we gladly provide reasonable accommodations to support our team.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder). All employees will be screened through E-Verify.

Elroy Air does not engage with external recruiting agencies/individual recruiters that we do not have a written agreement with and all employment activities are managed through our internal team. We reserve the right to make use of any unsolicited resumes received without being responsible for payment of any fees asserted from the use of unsolicited resumes.

Compensation (from employer):
180000–275000 USD per year

About this role

Summary

Develop operator interfaces, visualization tools, and real-time data systems for aircraft operations.

Job title

Senior Software Engineer, Operator Tools

Experience level

5+ years

Minimum experience

5+ years exp

Industry

aerospace

Location requirements

On-site in Byron, CA, with remote possible.

Salary

$180k–$275k

Visa sponsorship

H-1B sponsor history

Management role

Skills & keywords

Required skills

c++pythondesktop application developmentUI designprotocol integration

Preferred skills

aerospaceembedded systemscloud infrastructuregeospatial visualizationtime-series data

Specializations

desktop developmentUI designvisualizationprotocolsc++

Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Byron, CA, USA

Hybrid City