Director of Software (m/f/d)
NEX Aero GmbH Office
Full-time
Permanent employee
About the role
As Director of Software at NEX Aero, you will build and lead our software organization from the ground up, spanning three domains: Flight Control Software & Embedded Systems, Automation Software (autonomy & perception), and Cloud & Application Software. You will be a hands-on technical leader in your anchor domain while providing credible technical direction across the other two.
Your responsibilities
- Build, lead, and scale NEX Aero's software organization across three domains: Flight Control Software & Embedded Systems, Automation Software, and Cloud & Application Software.
- Take end-to-end technical ownership of software delivery across flight control & autopilot systems, safety-critical embedded software, autonomy/perception software, and application, tooling & ground-control software.
- Define software architecture, development standards, coding practices, and cybersecurity processes that hold consistently across all three domains.
- Ensure software across all domains is designed and delivered to meet applicable aviation certification requirements.
- Manage external software development partners and suppliers across domains, ensuring alignment with requirements, quality expectations, and delivery timelines.
- Take a hands-on role in your anchor domain (embedded / real-time / safety-critical systems) — architecture, critical modules, key design decisions.
- Direct and evaluate technical decisions made by domain leads in automation software and cloud/application software, without needing to implement in those stacks yourself.
- Work closely with hardware, systems engineering, and certification stakeholders to ensure software integrates seamlessly across the wider product.
Your profile
- Proven track record building and scaling software organizations from the ground up, ideally spanning more than one technical domain.
- Deep, hands-on expertise in embedded, real-time, and safety-critical software development — this is your anchor domain.
- Working fluency in at least one adjacent domain — autonomy/perception software (computer vision, sensor fusion, robotics) or modern cloud/application software (backend, frontend, cloud-native architectures) — sufficient to direct and evaluate domain leads' technical decisions.
- Strong understanding of software certification processes in regulated environments.
- Experience managing external development partners or suppliers.
- Experience in flight control, robotics, automotive, aerospace, or similar safety-critical domains.
- A true technical leader with an ownership mindset, high quality standards, and execution focus.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to align technical and non-technical stakeholders around a shared architectural vision.
- Fluency in English; German is a plus.
What we offer
- Competitive annual compensation.
- Meaningful equity participation (VSOP).
- A key leadership role in a high-impact aviation technology company.
- Direct influence on product, architecture, and team setup across all of software.
- Work on a system that is both technically and regulatorily demanding.