Avionics Process Engineer

About Merlin:
Merlin is a venture backed aerospace startup building a non-human pilot to enable both reduced crew and uncrewed flight. Backed by some of the world’s leading investors, Merlin is scaling alongside our customers to begin leveraging autonomy today to solve some of aviation’s biggest challenges.

About you:
You are a system level thinker with a keen eye for efficiency. You’ll partner with engineering, program, and quality teams to ensure our development practices are scalable, compliant with regulatory and customer standards, and aligned with the fast-evolving demands of autonomy in aerospace.

Responsibilities: :
• Design and implement scalable and compliant development processes for integrated software and hardware systems used in autonomous aerospace applications.
• Standardize workflows for systems engineering, requirements management, design reviews, integration, and validation across multi-disciplinary teams.
• Define interfaces between embedded software, avionics hardware, autonomy stacks, and control systems to streamline collaboration and delivery.
• Drive tool selection, integration, and automation for development pipelines, including PLM, ALM, version control, simulation environments, and CI/CD.
• Lead process documentation efforts to meet industry standards including DO-178C, DO-254, ARP4754A, and other applicable aerospace regulations.
• Collaborate with systems, software, hardware, and flight test teams to ensure consistency, traceability, and verification from concept to deployment.
• Develop and monitor engineering process metrics (quality, velocity, traceability, compliance) to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Facilitate retrospectives, root cause analyses, and corrective/preventive action planning to drive continuous improvement.
• Support audits, technical reviews, and certification documentation as required by regulatory and customer bodies.

Qualifications: :
• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• 4+ years of experience in process engineering, systems engineering, or engineering operations within aerospace, defense, or autonomous vehicle domains.
• Strong understanding of the software and hardware development lifecycle, including systems integration and verification for complex platforms.
• Experience with aerospace standards such as DO-178C, DO-254, ARP4754A, or MIL-STD processes.
• Familiarity with development and lifecycle tools such as Jira, Confluence, Git/GitLab, Jenkins, DOORS, Polarion, or similar.
• Ability to document and optimize technical processes across systems, software, and hardware engineering domains.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and facilitation skills.

Nice to Haves: :
• Experience supporting FAA, NASA, DoD, or other regulated aerospace programs.
• Background in autonomous systems, robotics, or AI/ML integration for mission-critical applications.
• Knowledge of model-based systems engineering (MBSE), digital thread, or digital twin concepts.
• Certifications in Lean, Six Sigma, CMMI, or related process improvement frameworks.

This position is based on-site at Merlin HQ in Boston, MA.

Once you’re here, you’ll enjoy a variety of on-site perks designed to make your workday enjoyable and convenient. These include catered lunches featuring a rotating menu of delicious options, an assortment of snacks to keep you fueled throughout the day, and a selection of beverages, including coffee, tea, and other drinks, to keep you refreshed.

Our goal is to create an environment where you can thrive both professionally and personally

Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health, dental, life, unlimited vacation, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.

Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military service or obligation or disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background and reference checks.

At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or consider candidates who require visa transfers. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to: [email protected]

Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.