Flight Research Guidance and Mission Management Software Engineer

Joby Aviation Joby Aviation · Robotics · Santa Cruz, CA · Flight Research

Software Engineer for Flight Research group at Joby Aviation, focusing on developing flight automation, decision-making, trajectory planning, and mission planning systems for novel aircraft. Requires expertise in C++, Python, optimization, and decision-making theory (MDPs, POMDPs, RL). Role involves delivering flight software, supporting flight testing, and collaborating with GNC engineers.

What you'd actually do

  1. Deliver high quality and robust flight software (C++) for VTOL and CTOL aircraft.
  2. Contribute heavily to the development of a library of trajectory planning and decision making algorithms. (C++/Python).
  3. Formulate test plans to demonstrate robustness and performance of solutions.
  4. Directly support flight testing of various aircraft platforms as a required crewmember in a remote ground station.
  5. Collaborate closely with the rest of the software & controls team to ideate, plan, and execute on high quality, well integrated solutions.

Skills

Required

  • C++
  • Python
  • trajectory planning
  • decision making algorithms
  • non-linear optimization
  • discrete search techniques
  • decision making theory
  • Markov Decision Processes (MDPs)
  • Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDP)
  • Reinforcement Learning
  • real-time and safety-critical flight software
  • simulation and tools for testing trajectory planning algorithms

Nice to have

  • real time trajectory planning algorithms for both CTOL and VTOL aircraft
  • Monte-Carlo Simulation based test frameworks
  • building decision making or automated reasoning systems
  • multi-agent systems

What the JD emphasized

  • Expert level understanding of trajectory planning, and decision making algorithms and their runtime complexity.
  • Expert level knowledge of non-linear optimization and discrete search techniques.
  • Experience with decision making theory and familiarity with techniques such Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDP) and Reinforcement Learning.
  • Experience writing real-time and safety-critical C++ flight software.
  • This position must meet US export control compliance requirements, therefore a candidate must qualify as a “US Person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15.

Other signals

  • flight automation
  • decision-making systems
  • trajectory planning
  • mission planning