Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer

Shift5 is redefining the future of onboard operational technology (OT). As a fast-growing scale-up, we specialize in cutting-edge cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, and compliance for OT systems across defense, aerospace, and rail. We are a team of passionate, innovative professionals who thrive in a collaborative environment, driven by a shared mission to revolutionize how fleets operate. By unlocking and democratizing the vast potential of onboard OT data, we help our customers' fleets run smarter, safer, and more efficiently. Ready to be part of the next frontier in transportation and critical infrastructure? Come join us.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Software Engineer specializing in Rust to build the core software that runs on our hardware platforms. In this role, you will develop and optimize high-performance code responsible for processing complex data streams directly from vehicle systems. This is a low-level systems programming role where you will work in resource-constrained Linux environments, leveraging deep technical knowledge to unlock hardware capabilities and ensure maximum performance and reliability. Your code will process real-time data from buses like MIL-STD-1553, ARINC-429, and CAN; transforming raw protocol data into structured information for cybersecurity and operational insights with stable data contracts for downstream products and analysis systems.

If you're passionate about high-performance systems programming, protocol engineering, and hardware integrationworking at the bit level, parsing and analyzing aerospace and other vehicle bus protocolsand thrive in a collaborative environment with opportunities to take ownership of complex technical challenges, Shift5 might be the right fit for you.

In this role you will be expected to :

• Develop and optimize high-performance Rust software for real-time data processing on custom, resource-constrained Linux systems.
• Design and implement type-safe hardware abstractions, managing complex build dependencies and FFI boundaries with memory safety.
• Build and maintain code generation pipelines for protocol specifications and translation tables into strongly-typed Rust structures.
• Implement robust and efficient parsers for complex wire protocols, working at the bit level for accurate data models.
• Optimize software for specific hardware capabilities using deep Linux systems knowledge, profiling, and metrics.
• Design and implement concurrent data pipelines with message-passing architectures and lock-free data structures.
• Investigate and debug complex issues across hardware, protocol specifications, FFI, and concurrent timing.
• Write comprehensive unit, functional, and integration tests for protocol parsing, data processing, and hardware integration.
• Document designs, data flows, architectural decisions, and safety-critical code patterns.
• Integrate with existing C-based APIs and libraries using Rusts FFI, including CMake, autotools, and bindgen.
• Evolve and maintain core processing software for long-term stability, performance, and adaptability.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including hardware and API / UI engineers, forward deployed engineers embedded with customers, security researchers, data engineering and analytics, and product and program managers.

Required :

Preferred :

Compensation & Benefits :

We are committed to building an inclusive culture of belonging that embraces the diversity of our people and represents the communities in which we work and the customers we serve. We know the happiest and highest performing teams include people with diverse perspectives and ways of solving problems. We strive to attract and retain talent from all backgrounds and create workplaces where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to work.

Shift5 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, marital status, ancestry, projected veteran status, or any other protected group or class.