About Rain Wildfires are escalating at an unprecedented pace. In 2023 alone, global wildfires emitted nearly 8 gigatonnes of CO₂—about 22% of all fossil fuel emissions that year, more than triple the EU’s annual emissions.Rain was founded to end catastrophic wildfires. We’re building autonomous aerial suppression technology that stops ignitions before they become disasters—protecting lives, communities, and the climate.<h3>What You’ll Do</h3><ul><li>Build and integrate autonomy frameworks that enable aircraft to coordinate, plan, and execute missions.</li><li>Design software for intuitive human supervision—communicating intent and building operator confidence in mission-critical contexts.</li><li>Develop algorithms for collaborative autonomy across multiple aircraft.</li><li>Ensure real-time performance and reliability under compute and communications constraints.</li><li>Build for robustness: fault-tolerant, fail-safe autonomy in uncertain, degraded, or high-stakes environments.</li><li>Validate in both simulation and live flight testing to ensure mission success in the toughest conditions wildfires present.</li><li>Collaborate across engineering to push the frontier of mission-level wildfire autonomy.</li></ul>What We’re Looking For<ul><li>6+ years of experience in software engineering for UAS, robotics, or other safety-critical applications.</li><li>Strong proficiency in C++14 (or newer) for resource-limited environments.</li><li>Knowledge of planning, state machines, or behavior trees.</li><li>Background in robotics, control systems, or aerospace autonomy.</li><li>Familiarity with simulation tools (e.g., Unreal Engine, AirSim, AFSIM).</li><li>Understanding of communication protocols, real-time constraints, and embedded systems.</li></ul>Bonus Points If…<ul><li>You have experience with reinforcement learning or adaptive autonomy.</li><li>You know STANAG/DoD autonomy standards and DO-178C.</li><li>You’ve worked with uncrewed aerial systems, aviation, or aerospace.</li><li>You’ve served as a firefighter.</li><li>You’re willing to travel (~15% of the year) for validation testing.</li></ul>Why Join Us<ul><li>Direct impact on one of the most urgent climate + safety challenges of our time.</li><li>A small, resilient team where your expertise shapes the mission.</li><li>High ownership, constant learning, and the chance to see your code fly.</li></ul>Location This role is on-site in Alameda, CA—just across the Bay from San Francisco. Our office is a converted air traffic control tower, accessible by ferry, bike, scooter, or car (with plenty of parking).Legal Notice This role involves access to information governed by U.S. export control laws. Applicants must qualify as a “U.S. Person” (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee).Apply Here → <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.rain.aero/software-engineer-autonomy">www.rain.aero/software-engineer-autonomy</a>

Rain, a leader in aerial wildfire containment technology, is helping fire agencies more rapidly respond to wildfires during the earliest stages of ignition. Rain adapts autonomous aircraft with the intelligence to perceive, understand, and suppress wildfires, enabling numerous aircraft to be prepositioned in remote locations—resulting in accelerated response time.

Software Engineer – Autonomy for Wildfire Suppression

About Rain Wildfires are escalating at an unprecedented pace. In 2023 alone, global wildfires emitted nearly 8 gigatonnes of CO₂—about 22% of all fossil fuel emissions that year, more than triple the EU’s annual emissions.Rain was founded to end catastrophic wildfires. We’re building autonomous aerial suppression technology that stops ignitions before they become disasters—protecting lives, communities, and the climate.<h3>What You’ll Do</h3><ul><li>Build and integrate autonomy frameworks that enable aircraft to coordinate, plan, and execute missions.</li><li>Design software for intuitive human supervision—communicating intent and building operator confidence in mission-critical contexts.</li><li>Develop algorithms for collaborative autonomy across multiple aircraft.</li><li>Ensure real-time performance and reliability under compute and communications constraints.</li><li>Build for robustness: fault-tolerant, fail-safe autonomy in uncertain, degraded, or high-stakes environments.</li><li>Validate in both simulation and live flight testing to ensure mission success in the toughest conditions wildfires present.</li><li>Collaborate across engineering to push the frontier of mission-level wildfire autonomy.</li></ul>What We’re Looking For<ul><li>6+ years of experience in software engineering for UAS, robotics, or other safety-critical applications.</li><li>Strong proficiency in C++14 (or newer) for resource-limited environments.</li><li>Knowledge of planning, state machines, or behavior trees.</li><li>Background in robotics, control systems, or aerospace autonomy.</li><li>Familiarity with simulation tools (e.g., Unreal Engine, AirSim, AFSIM).</li><li>Understanding of communication protocols, real-time constraints, and embedded systems.</li></ul>Bonus Points If…<ul><li>You have experience with reinforcement learning or adaptive autonomy.</li><li>You know STANAG/DoD autonomy standards and DO-178C.</li><li>You’ve worked with uncrewed aerial systems, aviation, or aerospace.</li><li>You’ve served as a firefighter.</li><li>You’re willing to travel (~15% of the year) for validation testing.</li></ul>Why Join Us<ul><li>Direct impact on one of the most urgent climate + safety challenges of our time.</li><li>A small, resilient team where your expertise shapes the mission.</li><li>High ownership, constant learning, and the chance to see your code fly.</li></ul>Location This role is on-site in Alameda, CA—just across the Bay from San Francisco. Our office is a converted air traffic control tower, accessible by ferry, bike, scooter, or car (with plenty of parking).Legal Notice This role involves access to information governed by U.S. export control laws. Applicants must qualify as a “U.S. Person” (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee).Apply Here → <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.rain.aero/software-engineer-autonomy">www.rain.aero/software-engineer-autonomy</a>

Software Engineer – Autonomy for Wildfire Suppression

About the Job

About the Company

Rain

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