Software Engineering Manager
Lindon, UT Engineering
Description

Fortem Technologies is a venture-capital backed company located in Lindon, UT. In a world where 

sophisticated drones are commonplace, Fortem Technologies provides the most artificial intelligence (AI) based airspace safety and security solutions on the planet. Fortem Technologies is the only company that provides a military-tested, commercially available solution that alerts, identifies, and secures against drones and other non-cooperative objects in the sky.We value customer satisfaction, teamwork, flexibility, personal integrity & accountability, and a spirit of giving back to the community.
Job SummaryThe DroneHunter Software Engineering team at Fortem is looking for a highly skilled, highly motivated,technical leader to contribute to and drive work on UAS platforms. This engineering leadership position requires a technical expert capable of architecting and implementing software solutions for flight control, autonomy, communications, and mission-level capabilities.
The ideal candidate is an experienced Software Manager with a passion for leading highly technical teams in a player/coach role. 
Primary Responsibilities:
  • Lead and mentor a team of software engineers, providing technical guidance, coaching, and performance management.
  • Drive the end-to-end software development lifecycle for drone systems, including requirements, design, implementation, testing, and release.
  • Architect, review, and contribute to mission-critical codebases.
  • Ensure robust software integration with ArduPilot, ROS (Robot Operating System), and other middleware frameworks used in drone architectures.
  • Partner with electrical, RF, and systems engineering to ensure high-reliability links between airborne platforms and ground control radios.
  • Work closely with Fortem internal engineering teams to ensure integration of flight control, autonomy algorithms, sensor fusion, and communications features.
  • Champion best practices in code quality, CI/CD, software testing, and documentation.
  • Coordinate with product leaders and program managers to plan roadmaps, allocate resources, and manage technical risks.
  • Drive innovation in contested, GPS/GNSS-challenged, or RF-denied environments.

Requirements

Education and Required Skills/Experience:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related field.
  • 5+ years of professional software development experience, including hands-on C++, Python, and Java.
  • 2+ years leading or managing a software engineering team (5 or more developers).
  • Understanding of RF systems, including radio link performance, modulation, ground-air data paths, and interference concepts relevant to commercial drone command-and-control.
  • Strong understanding of embedded or real-time systems development.
  • Excellent communication, leadership, planning, and collaboration skills.

Desired Skills/Experience:

  • Demonstrated experience working with or integrating ArduPilot and ROS.
  • Experience developing or integrating GNSS-denied or degraded-navigation technologies, such as visual-inertial navigation, SLAM, or alternative RF-based positioning.
  • Experience with secure communications, mesh networking, or advanced SDR frameworks.
  • Familiarity with aviation safety, autonomy algorithms, or UAS regulatory frameworks.

Experience or basic knowledge/understanding of the following:

  • JIRA, GitLab, Artifactory, CI/CD and software build best practices.
  • Agile software methodology, Scaled Agile Framework, Sprints.
  • STM32 / ARM microcontrollers.
  • Python for application development or data analysis.
  • Building embedded Linux systems 

About You:

  • Enjoy taking initiative and working with multidisciplinary teams.
  • Ability to communicate technical concepts & details effectively.
  • Ability to work in a small and fast-paced environment.
  • A positive attitude, team-oriented spirit, and enthusiasm for our goals.
  • A curious outlook - willingness to learn new things and solutions to fit the problem.
  • A strong sense of ownership and passion for completing a job well - attention to detail.
  • Ability to work well with all levels of the company regardless of seniority.
  • A willingness to work on what is necessary over what is desired.

Why Join Us?

  • Work at the forefront of next-generation autonomous aerial systems.
  • Lead a talented team solving complex, mission-critical engineering challenges.
  • Opportunity to shape software architectures that define the future of UAS aviatio