Staff Software Integration Engineer

About Merlin Labs Merlin is an aerospace and defense technology company building the operating system of record for autonomous flight. Our aircraft-agnostic, AI-powered software is purpose-built for military and civil programs, and is powering an expanding range of missions and aircraft, proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from test facilities across the globe. With $100M+ total in awarded contracts from military customers, Merlin is helping to solve national security challenges through safe, reliable autonomy.

Merlin Labs

Find a way or make one.

M

merlinlabs.com

51-200 employees

Software Development

Boston, MA

2019

Privately Held

24k LinkedIn followers

Raised $413.5M

• Own the architecture, development, and sustainment of real-time I/O software
• and telemetry infrastructure supporting aircraft integration benches and
• simulation environments.
• Develop modern C++ software on embedded Linux targets to interface with
• avionics hardware, manage periodic execution and watchdogs, and integrate
• generated aircraft simulation models.
• equipment, vendor SDKs, low-level I/O APIs, and device drivers.
• Integrate ARINC 429, CAN, serial, and discrete I/O using aircraft interface
• control documents; validate message encoding, signal mapping, update rates,
• and error handling.
• telemetry sources, synchronize and order samples, and stream data to
• flight-test displays and recording systems.
• Implement robust binary protocols and network interfaces using UDP, TCP, and
• messaging technologies such as ZeroMQ, accounting for packet loss, ordering,
• buffering, and client liveness.
• retrieval, and simulation replay that make integration issues reproducible.
• Maintain cross-compilation, packaging, and deployment workflows for ARM Linux
• targets and Linux hosts, including Yocto SDKs, CMake, Debian packages,
• systemd, Docker, and Docker Compose.
• Establish automated verification through unit tests, hardware integration
• tests, parser fuzzing, and Python-based smoke tests and tooling.
• Partner with avionics, aircraft software, flight dynamics, and flight test
• engineers to reproduce aircraft integration conditions in the lab and resolve
• issues across software and hardware boundaries.

Required

• You are a hands-on systems software engineer who takes ownership of complex
• software and hardware integration efforts, from architecture through deployment
• and operation. You write disciplined, maintainable code and troubleshoot
• methodically across real-time applications, Linux hosts, networks, and physical
• equipment. You work independently, collaborate across engineering disciplines,
• and help other engineers build on what you deliver.
• As part of Merlin’s Virtual Test Environments (VTE) team, you will own software
• connecting aircraft avionics, hardware-in-the-loop test environments, simulation
• models, and flight-test data systems. Your work will enable engineers to
• exercise aircraft systems before flight, observe their behavior, and capture and
• replay data to investigate issues.
• Strong proficiency in modern C++, including resource management, concurrency,
• error handling, and maintainable systems software design.
• fixed-period execution, watchdogs, thread synchronization, and reliable
• startup and shutdown.
• Deep familiarity with Linux host and embedded systems, including services,
• permissions, networking, software builds, deployment, and system-level
• diagnostics.
• Experience integrating avionics or comparable hardware interfaces, including
• ARINC 429, and the ability to interpret and implement interface control
• documents.
• Experience developing binary serializers and parsers, with attention to byte
• order, framing, validation, malformed inputs, and protocol compatibility.
• Strong understanding of UDP/TCP networking and asynchronous data pipelines,
• including buffering, packet loss, ordering, backpressure, and connection
• management.
• Experience with embedded Linux cross-compilation and deployment using vendor
• SDKs and build systems such as CMake.
• data-processing workflows.
• asynchronous systems programming and the ability to become productive in
• Rust.
• Experience with automated testing, continuous integration, Git-based version
• control and code review, and Jira or comparable issue tracking.
• Demonstrated ability to own an end-to-end system, lead technical decisions,
• and troubleshoot directly with physical hardware.
• troubleshoot equipment.

Preferred

• Direct experience with UEI PowerDNA/PDNA SDKs or comparable data acquisition
• and avionics interface platforms from vendors such as NI or Ballard.
• Experience with async Rust using Tokio, channels, serde, and axum.
• Familiarity with ARINC 429 labels, SDI/SSM fields, CAN messaging,
• MIL-STD-1553, and RS-232/RS-422 serial communications.
• merging of asynchronous data sources.
• Experience with Curtiss-Wright IADS or similar flight-test telemetry,
• ground-station, or engineering data-display systems.
• Experience with Yocto SDKs, ARM targets, Debian packaging, systemd services,
• and Linux device-driver development or troubleshooting.
• six-degree-of-freedom aircraft models into real-time execution environments.
• Experience with GoogleTest, pytest, parser fuzzing, and CI/CD pipelines such
• as GitHub Actions, including self-hosted runners.
• Experience with Docker-based deployment on lab or edge systems, S3 data
• storage, and automated simulation replay workflows.
• Experience with REST APIs, JSON schema validation, Cap’n Proto, SQL, or
• diagnostic interfaces using GL Studio, React, or HTML5.
• pilot’s license.
• \n
• $200,000 - $265,000 a year
• The compensation range provided is reflective of base salary only, and is a
• good-faith estimate based on a wide range of factors. The actual offer will be
• determined by a variety of factors including the candidate's qualifications,
• skills, experience, education, and training. Highly competitive equity grants
• are considered part of Merlin's total compensation package. Additionally, Merlin
• offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees.
• \n
• This position is based on-site at Merlin HQ in Boston, MA.
• Once you’re here, you’ll enjoy a variety of on-site perks designed to make your
• workday enjoyable and convenient. These include catered lunches featuring a
• rotating menu of delicious options, an assortment of snacks to keep you fueled
• throughout the day, and a selection of beverages, including coffee, tea, and
• other drinks, to keep you refreshed.
• Our goal is to create an environment where you can thrive both professionally
• and personally.
• Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup
• environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health, dental, life,
• flexible paid time off, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being
• part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports
• professional development while working together to achieve our mission.
• States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.
• In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify
• people@merlinlabs.com

• Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Flexible Paid Time Off
• 401(k) With Employer Match
• Catered Lunches
• Snacks
• Beverages
• Professional Development