Drone Software Jobs
Software is where much of the drone industry's hardest problems are solved — autonomy, perception, flight control and the systems that let aircraft fly and navigate on their own. These roles are among the best-paid in the field. Below are the latest drone software jobs from companies hiring now.
- Roles open
- 305

Senior GNC Engineer

Embedded Software Engineer III, Kernel

Principal Firmware (VHDL) Engineer

Firmware Engineer

Software Engineer

Sr. Perception Systems Engineer, Prime Air

Software Integration & Test Engineer – Autonomy & Flight Test

Computer Vision Engineer - VisionAI (AU)

Software Engineer, Rust

Software Engineer, DevSecOps

Machine Learning Engineer, Detection and Tracking

Senior Software Engineer, Guidance, Navigation, & Controls - Tactical Reconnaissance and Strike Division

Enterprise Systems Software Engineer Intern (Spring 2027)

Enterprise Systems Software Engineer Intern (Spring 2027)

Long Range Platform Embedded Firmware Intern (Summer 2027)

Senior Imaging Software Engineer

Field Software Engineer

Software Engineer

Flight Control & Avionics Hardware – Responsible Engineer

Lead Software Engineer
The intelligence of a modern drone lives in its software
That covers: flight control and guidance, navigation and control (GNC), autonomy and path planning, computer vision and perception, machine learning for detection and tracking, embedded and firmware development, and the backend and DevOps systems that support fleets in the field. Employers range from defense and autonomy startups to delivery and enterprise-drone companies, and the work often sits at the cutting edge of robotics and AI.
Common requirements include strong programming skills — C++, Rust, Python are frequent — plus experience in robotics, control systems, computer vision or machine learning depending on the role. Many positions are senior and well compensated, reflecting the difficulty of the problems and the competition for people who can solve them. A drone flight certificate is almost never required; this is software engineering applied to aircraft. Roles are updated continuously as companies across the US, Europe and elsewhere post new openings.
Not writing the code? Drone engineer jobs cover the hardware side, and many of these roles are also available as remote drone jobs.
Questions, answered
- What are drone software jobs?
- Software engineering roles focused on making drones fly, navigate and operate autonomously — including flight control, autonomy, perception, computer vision, machine learning and embedded systems.
- What programming languages do drone software jobs use?
- C++, Rust and Python are the most common, often alongside robotics frameworks and machine-learning or computer-vision libraries, depending on the specific role.
- Do I need to be a drone pilot to work in drone software?
- No. These are engineering roles and rarely require a flight certificate. The priority is software, robotics, control-systems or ML experience.
- Are drone software jobs well paid?
- Generally yes. Autonomy, perception and flight-control roles are among the best-compensated in the industry because of the specialised skills involved. See individual listings for salary ranges.