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At a glance
- Employment type
- Full-time
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
- Workplace
- On-site
- Category
- Full-stack
What you'll be doing
Lead Software Engineer on the Aircraft team at Manna, responsible for driving technical strategy, architecture, and delivery of onboard and embedded aircraft systems. The role involves mentoring senior engineers, leading design reviews, and collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders in a safety-critical, hardware-adjacent environment.
- Define architecture for aircraft onboard software and supporting firmware
- Set standards for reliability, performance, and scalability across aircraft systems
- Contribute to architectural decisions spanning multiple teams
- Lead design reviews for critical components
- Ensure roadmap execution balancing operational needs and long-term system health
- Own risk management, rollout strategy, incident learnings, and continuous improvement
- Partner with Hardware, Autonomy, Operations, and Aviation stakeholders
- Mentor senior engineers and grow technical leadership depth
Key requirements
Must-have
- 8–12+ years of professional software engineering experience
- Significant experience with embedded, robotics, or safety-critical systems
- Deep expertise in C++ and Embedded C/C++
- Strong systems-level Python experience beneficial
- Track record defining architecture in hardware-adjacent software environments
- Demonstrated technical leadership across complex projects
- Experience in safety-critical domains (aviation, aerospace, robotics, automotive, industrial systems)
- Strong debugging instincts across software and hardware boundaries
Nice-to-have
- Familiarity with flight stacks (ArduPilot/PX4), ROS/ROS2, or equivalent embedded platforms
- Experience with power systems, battery management, charging firmware, or similar hardware-integrated domains
- Background in safety cases or reliability engineering for operational systems
Experience: 8–12+ years
Role signals
- Technical focus
- embedded/robotics, safety-critical systems, architecture, mentoring
- Leadership
- Mentoring
- Architecture / system design
- Indicated in the listing
- Hands-on vs management
- Hands-on
Similar jobs
Full job description
Description
About Manna
At Manna, we’re changing how the world receives things — by taking delivery to the skies.
Our mission is simple but ambitious: to make high-speed suburban delivery affordable, green, and safe. We design and build our own aviation-grade drones that deliver food, coffee, groceries, and more — directly from local stores and vendors to people’s doors in just a few minutes.
We’re a team that Drive with Impact, are Safety Focused, and knows that the best ideas come from Team Players who show up as their Authentic Selves. We move fast, we are passionate about what we do, and we’re always pushing a growth mindset to be better — in everything we do.
If you want to build world-changing technology with real-world impact (and have a bit of fun while doing it), you’ll love it here.
Welcome to Manna — where we deliver the future.
Role Purpose
As the Lead Software Engineer on the Aircraft team, you will drive the technical strategy for onboard and embedded aircraft systems. You’ll set long-term architecture direction, lead high-stakes multi-project delivery, and mentor senior engineers across the wider software organisation.
This role is ideal for someone who is equally comfortable going deep on embedded/robotics software and stepping back to shape systems, standards, and teams.
Key Responsibilities
Define the architecture for aircraft onboard software and supporting firmware.
Set standards for reliability, performance, and scalability across aircraft systems.
Contribute to architectural decisions that span multiple teams (e.g., Aircraft ↔ Airspace ↔ QA).
Lead design reviews for critical components, ensuring high-confidence deployment in safety-critical environments.
Ensure roadmap execution while balancing near-term operational needs with long-term system health.
Own risk management, rollout strategy, incident learnings, and continuous improvement for aircraft software.
Partner closely with Hardware, Autonomy, Operations, and Aviation stakeholders.
Mentor senior engineers and grow technical leadership depth on the team.
Provide day-to-day technical leadership and coaching to software engineers.
Support hiring and onboarding to grow team capacity.
Skills & Education
8–12+ years of professional software engineering experience, with significant time spent on embedded, robotics, or safety-critical systems.
Deep expertise in C++ and Embedded C/C++; strong systems-level Python experience beneficial.
Track record defining architecture across complex, hardware-adjacent software environments.
Demonstrated technical leadership across multiple complex projects, including setting architecture direction and owning delivery outcomes. Experience working in safety-critical domains such as aviation, aerospace, robotics, automotive, or industrial systems.
Strong debugging instincts across software ↔ hardware boundaries.
History of mentoring senior engineers; people-management, growing technical capability across teams.
Experience leading design reviews, risk assessments, and incident learnings in high-reliability environments.
Experience with autonomy, avionics, drones, robotics, or real-time control systems.
Familiarity with flight stacks (ArduPilot/PX4), ROS/ROS2, or equivalent embedded platforms.
Experience with power systems, battery management, charging firmware, or similar hardware-integrated domains.
Background in safety cases or reliability engineering for operational systems.
*This role is based in Dublin, Ireland.
Interview prep pack
Grounded in this listing. Use it to prepare examples before you apply.
Your interview focus
Based on this listing, the Lead Software Engineer - Aircraft role at Manna centers on driving technical strategy, architecture, and reliability for embedded and robotics software in safety-critical aviation environments, while mentoring senior engineers and collaborating across hardware and software teams.
- Embedded/Robotics Technical Depth·Medium
- Safety-Critical Systems Experience·Medium
- Technical Leadership & Mentoring·Medium
- Cross-Functional Collaboration·High
Only have 30 minutes?
Follow a focused preparation plan based on this job.
Start 30-minute prep
Your 30-minute plan
Review Embedded and Robotics Architecture Projects
0–8 minSelect 1–2 detailed examples from your experience where you defined architecture and led delivery in embedded or robotics systems, focusing on safety-critical aspects.
Refresh on Safety-Critical Engineering Practices
8–14 minSummarize your approach to reliability, risk management, and incident response in operational systems, preparing concise stories.
Prepare Mentoring and Leadership Examples
14–20 minIdentify specific instances where you mentored senior engineers or influenced technical direction across teams.
Research Manna and Drone Delivery Technologies
20–25 minRead about Manna’s mission, technology, and any available technical blogs or news to tailor your questions and show engagement.
Review Relevant Platforms and Tools
25–30 minBrush up on flight stacks (ArduPilot, PX4), ROS/ROS2, and systems-level Python as they relate to aircraft and robotics software.
Talking points
, 6 itemsDefining Architecture for Embedded Aircraft Systems
You will need to demonstrate your experience setting technical direction and architectural standards for complex, hardware-adjacent software environments.
Technical Leadership and Mentoring
The role requires mentoring senior engineers and growing technical leadership depth, so be ready to share examples of coaching and developing others.
Safety-Critical and Reliability Engineering
Experience in safety-critical domains is essential; prepare to discuss how you have ensured reliability, managed risk, and handled incident learnings.
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
You will partner with hardware, autonomy, and operations teams, so examples of effective cross-functional collaboration are important.
Debugging Across Software-Hardware Boundaries
Strong debugging instincts are required; be ready to discuss challenging debugging scenarios involving both software and hardware.
Leading Design Reviews and Roadmap Execution
You will lead design reviews and ensure roadmap execution, so prepare to discuss your approach to balancing short-term needs with long-term system health.
What to research
, 4 itemsManna's Mission and Aircraft Technology
Review Manna's approach to drone delivery, their mission, and any public information about their aircraft systems.
Embedded C/C++ and Systems-Level Python
Refresh your knowledge and recent experience with C++, Embedded C/C++, and systems-level Python, especially in robotics or aviation contexts.
Safety-Critical Software Practices
Prepare examples of your work in safety-critical domains, including risk management, reliability engineering, and incident response.
Flight Stacks and Robotics Platforms
Review your experience with flight stacks (ArduPilot, PX4), ROS/ROS2, or similar platforms relevant to drone and robotics systems.
Questions to ask
, 6 itemsHow does the Aircraft team at Manna collaborate with hardware, autonomy, and operations teams during the development lifecycle?
Why ask this? To understand the cross-functional dynamics and expectations for collaboration.
What are the biggest technical challenges currently facing the aircraft onboard software and firmware?
Why ask this? To gain insight into immediate priorities and where your expertise can have the most impact.
How does Manna approach risk management and incident learnings in its safety-critical software systems?
Why ask this? To assess the maturity of safety and reliability processes and your potential role in improving them.
What opportunities exist for shaping the long-term architecture and technical standards across the wider software organization?
Why ask this? To clarify the scope of influence and leadership expected in this role.
How is technical mentorship and leadership development supported within the engineering team?
Why ask this? To understand the culture of mentorship and how you can contribute to or benefit from it.
What does success look like for the Lead Software Engineer - Aircraft in the first 6–12 months?
Why ask this? To align your expectations with the company's goals and performance metrics.
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