Flight Controls & Autonomy Engineer

About Alto Cirra

Alto Cirra develops drone-deployed cloud seeding technology and data-backed program capabilities for ski resorts, water districts and watersheds. Our headquarters is in Salt Lake City.

The role

Develop and verify the flight-control and autonomy software that keeps our aircraft predictable, with simulation and failsafe testing.

This planned 2027 headquarters role supports our next phase of development. Hiring dates will be agreed individually; regional deployment plans do not represent confirmed local bases or flight authorizations.

Responsibilities

• Develop and tune flight-control and autonomy software.
• Build and use simulation to evaluate behavior before flight.
• Run reviewed verification of software changes.
• Design and test failsafe and contingency behavior.
• Analyze flight logs to find and fix control issues.

Qualifications

• 3+ years developing controls, robotics or autonomy software.
• Strong C++ and Python skills with version control, code review and automated testing.
• Understanding of feedback control, state estimation and flight dynamics.
• Experience with simulation and systematic validation before hardware or flight deployment.

Preferred experience

PX4 or ArduPilot, ROS, MATLAB/Simulink and software- or hardware-in-the-loop testing.

Core skills

C++, Python.

Employment terms

Full-time employee, normally 40 hours per week. Salt Lake City, Utah. Hybrid: normally three days per week at headquarters and up to two days remote, with in-person attendance required for lab, test and operational activities.

Up to 15% travel for scheduled integration and test campaigns.

Annual base salary: USD $125,000-$165,000. No equity or bonus is included in this package. Compensation within the range will reflect relevant experience and role scope.

Benefits

15 paid vacation days, 10 paid company holidays, 5 paid sick days, employer contribution of 75% of employee-only medical/dental/vision premiums, required work equipment, approved business travel reimbursement, and a $1,500 annual professional-development budget.

Relocation policy: applicants willing to relocate are welcome; relocation expenses are not included. Visa policy: employment visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Apply through Wellfound

Submit your resume and relevant project or work examples through this Wellfound posting only. Share only material you are authorized to disclose. Applications are not accepted by email or through company website forms.

Candidates with relevant equivalent experience are encouraged to apply. Selection will focus on job-related skills and experience.