Senior Flight Software Engineer

Location: Delft, Netherlands

Contract: Freelance

About the role

Our client, a technology organisation based in Delft, needs a Senior Flight Software Engineer on a freelance basis. You’ll design, develop and test the software that controls flight systems, where reliability, determinism and careful verification matter in every release.

As a senior member of the team, you’ll work across the full software lifecycle, from requirements and architecture through implementation, integration and testing. You’ll work closely with systems, hardware and test engineers so the software behaves correctly on target hardware and meets its functional and performance requirements. Your experience will shape technical decisions, code quality and how the team approaches verification.

The role is based in Delft, in the province of South Holland. It suits an experienced embedded or flight software engineer who works confidently in resource-constrained, safety-conscious environments and is comfortable owning complex technical problems. Start date, duration and working pattern will be confirmed with candidates.

Main responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain flight software for embedded target platforms
• Translate system and software requirements into robust software architecture and implementation
• Develop and run unit, integration and system-level tests, including testing on target hardware
• Integrate software with hardware, sensors, communication interfaces and other subsystems
• Debug and resolve complex issues across software and hardware boundaries
• Write and maintain clear technical documentation, including design and test documentation
• Review code and contribute to coding standards and development practices
• Support less experienced engineers and share technical knowledge across the team

Requirements

Essential

• Significant experience in flight software or embedded software development
• Strong programming skills in C and/or C++
• Experience with real-time operating systems and resource-constrained embedded environments
• Experience with software testing, integration and debugging on target hardware
• Good understanding of the software development lifecycle, from requirements to verification
• Able to work independently and take technical ownership at a senior level
• Able to work from Delft

Desirable

• Experience in aerospace, space or other high-reliability domains
• Familiarity with relevant software standards such as ECSS or DO-178C
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop or software-in-the-loop testing
• Experience with communication protocols commonly used in embedded systems, such as CAN, SPI, I2C or UART
• Scripting experience, for example in Python, for test automation and tooling

The offer

• Freelance engagement with a technology organisation in Delft
• Senior role with real influence on software quality and technical direction
• Start date, duration and rate to be confirmed with candidates

This freelance role suits a senior engineer who enjoys building reliable software for systems where failure isn’t an option. You’ll take ownership of flight software development in Delft and bring both technical depth and a careful approach to testing. If this matches your experience, apply below.