Sr. Systems Development Engineer - DO-178C Certification Lead (DER), Prime Air

About the role

The Sr. Systems Development Engineer serves as the internal DO-178C Designated Engineering Representative (DER) and certification process authority for the Drone Guidance, Navigation & Controls (GNC) software team at Amazon Prime Air. This role has organization-wide impact, focusing on defining the certification strategy, building DO-178C processes, and serving as the primary technical interface with the FAA and DERs.

Responsibilities

• Own DO-178C certification strategy for Prime Air software (specifically at DAL C and DAL D), defining the end-to-end software lifecycle approach from planning through Software Accomplishment Summary (SAS) and final certification
• Develop and establish DO-178C processes that satisfy all planning objectives required for SOI-1, including authoring and owning the Plan for Software Aspects of Certification (PSAC), Software Development Plan (SDP), Software Verification Plan (SVP), Software Configuration Management Plan (SCMP), and Software Quality Assurance Plan (SQAP)
• Lead all four Stages of Involvement (SOI) audits — SOI-1 (Planning), SOI-2 (Development), SOI-3 (Verification/Test), and SOI-4 (Final), serving as the primary technical representative to the FAA or DER during each stage
• Serve as Auditor for software certification activities, making findings of compliance based on regulatory objectives laid out for Drone certification
• Define and enforce process rigor based on the DAL across the software lifecycle, ensuring the correct number of objectives and independence requirements are satisfied for each DAL level per DO-178C
• Establish software structural coverage standards, defining tooling, automation, and reporting processes that demonstrate compliance to certification authorities
• Build and maintain requirements traceability infrastructure from system-level requirements through HLRs, LLRs, source code, and test cases using tools such as Jama, ensuring bidirectional traceability satisfies DO-178C objectives
• Define tool qualification strategy under DO-330 for all software development and verification tools used in the DO-178C lifecycle, including qualification level determination and Tool Qualification Plans (TQPs)
• Mentor and develop senior engineers in DO-178C processes, certification audit preparation, and safety-critical software development practices, guiding their career growth toward certification expertise
• Influence organization-level technical strategy for airworthiness, certification, and safety-critical software development across Amazon Prime Air, producing exemplary written artifacts that create alignment with technical and non-technical audiences at the VP level
• Proactively identify and resolve certification risks across the software lifecycle, escalating to leadership with clear mitigation plans and communicating certification status clearly to senior leadership and the FAA

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or above in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related fields
• 5+ years of designing and developing large-scale, multi-tiered, multi-threaded, embedded or distributed software applications, tools, systems, and services using: C#, C++, Java, or Perl experience, or Master's degree in computer science or equivalent
• Experience communicating technical details verbally and in writing
• 5+ years of direct, hands-on DO-178C (or DO-178B) experience, including authoring or owning software lifecycle data artifacts (PSAC, SDP, SVP, SCMP, SQAP, SAS) at DAL C or higher
• Demonstrated experience developing DO-178C processes from scratch that satisfy SOI-1 planning objectives, including establishing the software lifecycle, process standards, and compliance approach for a new program
• Demonstrated experience executing or leading DO-178C Stage of Involvement (SOI) audits — specifically SOI-1, SOI-2, SOI-3, and SOI-4 — as the primary technical representative
• Experience with DO-178C Conformity Audits, including preparation of audit evidence packages and resolution of audit findings
• Deep knowledge of DO-178C objectives, independence requirements, and the distinction in rigor between levels

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or above in engineering or equivalent
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment similar to a high-tech start-up
• Current or prior appointment as an FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER) for software, or demonstrated experience working directly with a DER in a company DER support role
• Experience achieving FAA type certification or amended type certificate (ATC) for a software-intensive airborne system, including preparation and submission of the Software Accomplishment Summary (SAS)
• Experience with DO-178C, DO-278A, and DO-254 providing broader understanding of the full spectrum of certification rigor
• Familiarity with DO-330 tool qualification, including authoring Tool Qualification Plans (TQPs) and Tool Operational Requirements (TORs)
• Experience with model-based design (e.g., Simulink/Stateflow with DO-178C qualified code generation) or formal methods as supplements to traditional DO-178C verification
• Experience with autonomous systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drone delivery systems
• Experience with ARP4754A system-level development processes and the interface between system safety assessment and software DAL assignment