Principal Software Engineer (Autonomy)
Lynx Software Technologies, Inc. · Palmdale, CA
$160,000–$200,000from the description
Jul 16, 2026
Palmdale, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior embedded software engineering role focused on autonomous and unmanned aircraft systems, primarily involving development, integration, and testing of flight software using ArduPilot and/or PX4 controllers, MAVLink protocols, and languages such as C, C++, Python, and Java. The position suits an experienced engineer with hands-on sUAS/RC aircraft background who is comfortable working both independently and within multi-site teams on defense-related programs.
Senior level · 8+ years · Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 3 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $136,221 (middle half $107,984–$167,709). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The job title says 'Principal Software Engineer' but the description body explicitly frames this as a 'senior-level Embedded Software Engineer' role. The actual scope and requirements (8+ years, component-level embedded work, no org-wide technical authority described) support Senior, not Principal — the title appears to be a company-internal grade rather than a true principal-level position.
Two primary work locations are listed: Fort Worth, TX and Palmdale, CA. The CBSA is set to Dallas-Fort Worth as the first-named location; Palmdale falls within the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA CBSA (31080).
The C, C++, Java, Python, and Bash requirement is listed as a combined group in the Basic Requirements section; all are treated as hard gates since they appear together under a single required-experience bullet.
ArduPilot and PX4 are listed as interchangeable alternatives ('and/or') in the Basic Requirements section — emitted as one required skill with PX4 as the alternative.
sUAS hands-on operations experience is a stated Basic Requirement but names no specific technology or tool, so it is not emitted as a skill.
The Preferred/Additional Skills section lists several capability areas (Autonomy Systems, Embedded Systems, Test & Verification, Electrical Engineering Fundamentals) as narrative descriptions rather than named tools; these are omitted as they name no specific technology.
Compensation is stated as $160,000–$200,000 plus bonus eligibility; the bonus component cannot be quantified from the posting.
Requires a Secret clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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