Advanced Software Engineer

Our Mission

At Vertical Aerospace, we are pioneering the way for electric aviation. The Valo, our eVTOL (electric, vertical, take-off and landing), 'zero emissions' aircraft will set a new safety standard for how we will navigate the sky.

We won't realise our mission following the same legacy processes and traditions our predecessors followed, instead, we want to 'redefine' aerospace best practices. We are growing quickly from a prototype business to a scaling SME, and the next few years will be critical to our success and delivering on our ambitious goals. Valo is targeting airliner-level safety certification in 2028 ahead of entering service with our airline and operator customers.

What to Expect

You’ll join the Digital Innovation team at Vertical Aerospace, where software plays a critical role in shaping the future of aviation. This team drives technological advancement across the business by integrating cutting-edge tools and developing new solutions where none exist.

You can expect to work on high-impact, technically challenging problems that directly support flight test, engineering, and certification activities. The environment is fast-paced, collaborative, and mission-driven, with a strong emphasis on safety, quality, and innovation.

What You'll Do

You'll be a core engineer on an internal platform that manages HIL test operations across Vertical's rig estate - from test execution and scheduling through to results, reporting, and requirements traceability. The platform is safety-programme-critical, sitting between our engineers, our test rigs, and our certification evidence.

Most of your work will be in Python, building the backend services that orchestrate test execution, manage lifecycle state and versioning, and expose a clean API to the rest of the system. You'll work closely with real-time hardware targets, extending existing interfaces with live signal streaming so rig data flows directly into the execution pipeline. You'll also design the reporting layer that captures test assertions and plots during a run and makes them available through both a web UI and exportable formats.

Alongside the Python work you'll contribute to low-level agent software running on rig machines - written in C, C++ and Rust - that operates under real-time constraints and handles high-volume data relay.

As the platform grows you'll take on integrations with external tools for requirements traceability and issue tracking, and you'll keep tool qualification for safety-critical software in view throughout.

What You'll Bring

• Production-grade Python engineering - async services, REST API design, package and dependency management

• Experience with real-time or streaming data - WebSocket, time-series databases, high-throughput signal pipelines

• Working knowledge of C or C++ for systems-level development; Rust experience is a plus

• Familiarity with MATLAB/Simulink and real-time hardware targets such as Speedgoat or NI equivalents

• Experience with Linux development, containerisation, and CI/CD in an agile team

• Awareness of safety-critical or regulated software development - DO-178C, DO-330, or equivalent

• Comfort working across the hardware-software boundary in an active test and verification environment

#LI-LW1

What can you expect from us?

We're on a mission. Where others see limits, we see opportunity, and we work at pace. Working at Vertical isn't your average role but for those seeking a challenge, a flexible, supportive organisation and an incredible team; working here is an opportunity to do the best work of your career.

Our approach promotes ingenuity and courage, while our environment builds success through diligence in safety and being open in the way we work. The only way we're going to assure the next chapter of aviation history is by working as a team, relentlessly, towards our goal. 

Our benefits

Our people matter - we're not going anywhere without them. Which is why our company benefits go beyond the essentials.

• 26 days holiday, plus bank holiday

• 5 extra days per year to buy (or sell)

• 5 extra days holiday when you get married or enter a civil partnership

• Additional 4% of your salary to spend on extra benefits

• Award-winning digital health and wellbeing service (Help@Hand)

• Company performance based bonus - rewarding company and individual performance

• Company Share Scheme - open to every Vertical employee

• Company Pension Scheme - 5% and we match it

• Breakfast on us, every day

We may just be the hardest job you've ever had, but we're confident it will be the most rewarding. Join the team today and help us shape the future of Advanced Air Mobility.

Disclaimer Statement

We encourage you to apply even if you may not have all the experience listed in the advert. We recognise that talent comes in various forms and we are committed to providing opportunities that create an environment of growth, diversity, and inclusion for everyone. As part of our desire to review and make our processes fair, we may ask you questions related to these aspects during the application process. For more information on how we will use your data, see our Legal section.