Software Engineer – Autonomous Weapons & Drone Systems

About Wild West Systems

Wild West Systems is a defense technology startup redefining autonomous edge defense through modular, AI-powered weapon systems - designed, built, and launched in the USA.

We fuse domain mastery with creativity to deliver advanced capabilities for modern asymmetric warfare. We move fast, build hard, and engineer for real-world impact.

If you're ready to build software that commands machines defending tomorrow's freedom, welcome to the frontier.

Why This Role Matters

Our software engineers own the digital nervous system of our platforms. You'll work across embedded systems, autonomy pipelines, sensor fusion, and mission logic - turning raw data into real-time decisions.

It's full-stack systems engineering, from low-level firmware to high-level ML pipelines, directly integrated with flight hardware and kinetic platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop production software for drone navigation, guidance, autonomy, and targeting.
• Collaborate with hardware and electronics teams to integrate software with real-world sensors, actuators, and propulsion systems.
• Own features end to end: requirements, architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, and sustainment.
• Develop and optimize AI/ML perception and decision models for autonomous targeting, tracking, and control.
• Write clean, well-tested, high-performance code suitable for field deployment.
• Contribute to internal tools, CI/CD pipelines, simulation frameworks, and development infrastructure.
• Participate in code reviews, design discussions, and rapid iteration cycles in a fast-moving environment.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience).
• 3+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Proficiency in one or more core languages: Python, C/C++, Rust, Go, or Java.
• Demonstrated record of shipping working software (embedded, real-time, or distributed).
• Strong understanding of algorithms, data structures, version control, and software testing.
• Experience with machine learning workflows and frameworks (training through deployment).
• Comfortable in Unix/Linux development environments.
• Self-directed, ownership-driven, and comfortable in fast-paced, ambiguous conditions.
• U.S. Citizenship required under ITAR regulations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in defense, aerospace, robotics, or autonomy.
• Familiarity with drone/UAV systems, real-time operating systems, or embedded development.
• Knowledge of computer vision, SLAM, or sensor fusion.
• Experience in edge ML deployment (TensorRT, ONNX, quantization, model optimization).
• Familiarity with cloud/distributed systems (AWS, GCP, Docker, Kubernetes).
• Open-source contributions or strong public portfolio.
• Experience at a high-growth startup or technology company with strong engineering practices.

Why You'll Love It Here

• Mission that matters: build software that powers the future of autonomous defense.
• Small, high-impact team where your work goes directly to the field.
• Complete ownership of your projects, without bureaucracy or layers of management.
• Competitive salary and outstanding benefits:
  • 100% coverage for employee health, dental, and vision insurance
  • 90% coverage for spouse and family plans

Additional Information

• This position is onsite only at our Great Neck, NY facility.
• Must meet ITAR eligibility (U.S. citizen, permanent resident, refugee, or asylee).
• On-camera interviews required; identity verification may apply.
• Company uses E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility.
• We do not work with staffing agencies - direct applicants only.
• Wild West Systems is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.