Principal Software Engineer

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:

• Embedded
• Hardware
• Support
• Python
• C++

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 39 week of 2026