Forterra · 17 hours ago
Senior TerraLink Software Engineer
East Palo Alto, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$170K/yr - $185K/yr
8+ years expForterra is a company dedicated to transforming the battlefield through advanced technology and autonomy. They are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to design and deliver mission capabilities through their TerraLink software, focusing on user-facing applications and technical leadership.
Defense & Space
No H1B
U.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Rapidly prototype and mature operator-facing mission capabilities to support customer evaluations, demonstrations, and early operational deployments
Work with senior stakeholders, mentor and develop junior engineers, and contribute to the development of technical strategy
Qualification
Required
8+ years of professional software development experience, including delivery of production systems in complex or safety-critical environments
Expertise in C++ and Python and strong experience developing and deploying software in Linux environments required
Demonstrated commitment to delivering reliable, operationally relevant software in support of real-world missions and customers
Proven ability to own complex features or subsystems end-to-end, from requirements through field deployment, while collaborating across teams and developing junior engineers
Experience building and maintaining complex user-facing applications, including UI-driven workflows, operator tools, and mission planning systems
Demonstrated success integrating in-house and third-party developed software components into cohesive, operator-ready capabilities
Ability to work directly with customers and partners to define requirements, iterate on solutions, and deliver usable capability on tight timelines
Willing and able to validate solutions in real operational environments, working shoulder-to-shoulder with users during field tests, exercises, and demonstrations to rapidly iterate and harden capabilities
Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical tradeoffs and designs to both technical and non-technical audiences
Comfortable operating in fast-paced, evolving programs where requirements are incomplete and rapid iteration is required
Preferred
Experience developing mission-oriented user interfaces, command-and-control tools, or operator-facing software for defense, robotics, or other autonomous systems
Familiarity with distributed systems, extensibility, and service-oriented architectures, particularly as they relate to UI-driven mission workflows
Experience with modern UI frameworks or visualization technologies used in operational or industrial software (specific frameworks optional)
Prior Defense & Intelligence work is strongly valued
Must be eligible for a U.S. security clearance
Benefits
Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
$9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.
Company
Forterra
Forterra delivers autonomous mission systems for defense.
201-500 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageRecent News
2025-11-14
2025-11-14
Washington Technology
2025-11-14
Company data provided by crunchbase