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

Machine Learning Engineer - Computer Vision

Senior Ground Software Engineer (Maritime)

Senior/Staff Computer Vision & Machine Learning Engineer
Senior Perception Engineer - VIO / SLAM / Sensor Fusion

Software Dev Engineer II, Prime Air

Senior UAS Autonomy Applications Engineer

Senior Software Engineer, Operator Tools

Senior Software Engineer, Embedded Systems

Software Engineer – Backend

Autonomy Integration Engineer (R5245)

Embedded Software Engineer

Staff Engineer, Autonomy and Motion Planning (R5263)

Software Engineer (R&D Hardware Tooling)

Principal Perception Engineer, CV/ML

Robotics Software Engineer

Embedded Linux Software Engineer (m/f/d) - Maritime N3XT

GNC Engineer

Compliance Lead (RPAS) – Robotics
Sr. Embedded Software Engineer - Radar & DSP

Staff Engineer, Software Autonomy Applications (R4962)
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.