Updated continuously

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
Logo of BRINC
BRINC

Software Engineer, Test (SDET)

Seattle, United States
HybridFull-timeSenior
$165,000 - $205,000/yr
Logo of Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems

Digital Power Electronics Firmware Engineer

Austin, United States
On-siteFull-timeMid-Level
Logo of Swarm Aero
Swarm Aero

Vice President, Software

Oxnard, United States
On-siteFull-timeExecutive
$230,000 - $400,000/yr
Logo of Shield AI
Shield AI

Senior Engineer, Autonomy Software Integration & Test (R5225)

Lviv, Ukraine
On-siteFull-timeSenior
Logo of Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems

Software Engineer - Mission Systems/Integration

Austin, United States
On-siteFull-time
Logo of Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems

Software Engineer - Robotics (Motion)

Austin, United States
On-siteFull-timeJuniorMid-LevelSenior
Logo of Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems

Software Engineer - Deployment & Fleet Management

Austin, United States
On-siteFull-time
Logo of Shield AI
Shield AI

Staff Software Engineer, GCS - Full Stack (R5192)

San Diego, United StatesDallas, United StatesWashington, United StatesBoston, United States
On-siteFull-timeSenior
$150,000 - $230,000/yr
Logo of Shield AI
Shield AI

Staff Engineer, Software, GCS - C++ (R5189)

San Diego, United StatesDallas, United StatesWashington, United StatesBoston, United States
On-siteFull-timeSenior
$150,000 - $230,000/yr
Logo of Sentradel
Sentradel

Computer Vision Engineer

San Francisco, United States
On-siteFull-time
$120,000 - $210,000/yr
Logo of Pivotal
Pivotal

Autonomy Engineer II - Robotics

Palo Alto, United StatesMiami, United States
On-siteFull-timeJunior
Logo of Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems

Software Engineer - All Levels

Austin, United StatesMountain View, United States
On-siteFull-timeJuniorMid-LevelSenior
Logo of Applied Intuition
Applied Intuition

System Engineer - Robotics

London, United Kingdom
On-siteFull-timeSenior
£100,000 - £160,000/yr
Logo of Shield AI
Shield AI

Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration (R5208)

Washington, United StatesSan Diego, United StatesBoston, United States
On-siteFull-timeSenior
$187,531 - $281,297/yr
Logo of Shield AI
Shield AI

Senior Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration (R5193)

Washington, United StatesSan Diego, United StatesBoston, United States
On-siteFull-timeSenior
$228,000 - $342,000/yr
Logo of Shield AI
Shield AI

Senior Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration (R5200)

Washington, United StatesSan Diego, United StatesBoston, United States
On-siteFull-timeSenior
$160,000 - $240,000/yr
RC
Randstad Consulting

Architecte Software Intelligence Embarquée Drone - F/H

Saint-Tropez, France
On-siteFull-timeSenior
Logo of Aurelius Systems
Aurelius Systems

Sr. Robotics Software Engineer

San Francisco, United States
On-siteFull-timeSenior
$185,000 - $235,000/yr
Logo of DroneDeploy
DroneDeploy

Lead Software Engineer, 3D Computer Vision (USA)

RemoteFull-timeLead
Logo of Pivotal
Pivotal

Embedded Software Engineer II

Palo Alto, United States
On-siteFull-timeJunior
$132,000 - $153,000/yr

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.