Top C++ Jobs in Washington, DC

Work on end-to-end customer projects as a Forward Deployed Software Engineer intern: design and implement data-driven solutions, build web apps, wrangle large-scale data, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and travel to client sites. Interns own real-world deliverables and operate with autonomy and mentorship in fast-moving environments.

Lead and grow a small autonomy engineering team to design, integrate, validate, and field autonomy software for launched effects. Own delivery, hiring, mentoring, technical direction, ICDs, pre-deployment validation, live test support, hardware/software debugging, and cross-team collaboration for multi-agent and air-gapped fleet deployments.

Develop, integrate, and field autonomy software for unmanned platforms; lead a small technical team through design-to-deployment; author ICDs; perform hardware/software debugging, system bring-up, simulation testing, and mission support; mentor engineers and coordinate with internal teams and external integrators. Travel ~10-20%.

Develop and test autonomy behaviors for unmanned systems using production C++. Implement features for behavior, coordination, motion planning, and survivability. Participate in full software lifecycle, integrate with sensors/actuators, support simulation and real-world testing, collaborate cross-functionally, and travel up to 20% to support integration and testing. Must be eligible for a U.S. Secret clearance.

Integrate and deploy autonomy software onto unmanned aircraft, prepare flight-ready systems, support on-site flight tests, debug hardware/software issues, collect and analyze flight data, collaborate across autonomy, GNC, and test teams, and support certification, compliance, and process improvements.

Lead and manage a perception engineering team developing production-quality C++ perception and state-estimation software (A-PNT) for GNSS-degraded environments. Integrate and test sensor fusion, computer vision, and estimator frameworks on aerial platforms, validate with simulation and real data, and collaborate with hardware, test, and cross-functional teams.

Design, develop, and field high-performance Ground Control Station and C2 software using C++/Qt/QML and QGroundControl. Lead architecture and technical direction, mentor engineers, define APIs/ICDs, debug integration/latency issues, support field tests, implement post-mission debrief tools, and ensure interoperability with C2 standards.

Lead simulation-driven testing and automation for autonomy software: develop automated regression/integration/system tests, build and maintain simulation-based test frameworks and tools (SIL/HIL/VIL), diagnose issues with developers, scale simulation infrastructure, create test plans, and integrate test coverage into CI/CD pipelines using Python.

Lead design, integration, and fielding of autonomy software on unmanned platforms. Develop mission behaviors, platform control, multi-agent coordination, and deployment pipelines; own validation from simulation to live tests. Drive technical strategy, cross-team architecture, standards compliance, mentor senior engineers, and support on-site test/mission operations and hardware/software debugging.

Lead design and implementation of tactical autonomy behaviors for unmanned platforms. Develop, test, and deploy multi-agent coordination, motion/behavior planning, and survivability features across vehicles while owning end-to-end system lifecycle and collaborating with integration teams and end users.

Lead design and prototyping of generative AI experiences for autonomy development; drive UX for Hivemind products; perform user research, collaborate with CTO and product leads, and deliver reference implementations and integrations across full-stack web and edge systems.

Lead systems engineering for Hivemind-based autonomy products: define and manage requirements, develop system architectures and trade studies, coordinate hardware/software interfaces, support integration/verification/validation and testing, and identify and mitigate technical risks across the system lifecycle.

Integrate autonomy software onto unmanned aircraft, prepare and validate flight-ready systems, support on-site flight tests, debug hardware/software integration, capture and analyze flight data, collaborate with autonomy/GNC/systems teams, improve integration processes, and assist with certification and compliance. Travel ~30-40% for tests and field events.

Develop, integrate, and field autonomy software on unmanned platforms; own end-to-end integration from simulation to live tests; debug embedded/latency-sensitive systems; support on-site flight/sea/space tests; ensure C2 interoperability and improve deployment/test tooling and processes.

Design, implement, and own tactical autonomy behaviors for unmanned platforms. Develop and test multi-agent coordination, motion and behavior planning, target engagement, and survivability features. Work across the software lifecycle, integrate with sensor, estimation, communications, and control systems, contribute to shared frameworks, and support platform integration and testing (travel up to 20%).

Integrate autonomy software onto unmanned aircraft, prepare and validate flight-ready systems, support on-site flight tests, debug hardware/software interactions, capture and analyze flight data, collaborate with autonomy/GNC/systems teams, and support certification and compliance. Frequent travel (~30-40%) for field tests.

Develop and maintain Python-based analytics, automated test orchestration, and scenario-generation pipelines for autonomy simulation. Build adapters in C++/Python, analyze logs/rosbags, deploy distributed orchestration with Terraform/Kubernetes, and create telemetry ingestion and reporting frameworks to validate AI Pilot behaviors across secure and commercial environments.

Design and implement tactical autonomy algorithms and high-performance software for unmanned air/land/sea platforms. Build behavior architectures, integrate classical and learning-based methods, run simulations and field tests, analyze mission data, and support defense programs and deployments.

Design and implement full‑stack, low‑latency web-based Ground Control Station and C2 systems (map-centric UIs, real-time telemetry, video streaming), lead architecture and APIs, mentor engineers, support field tests and mission deployments, and ensure interoperability with C2 standards.

Design, develop, and integrate real-time sensor fusion and perception algorithms across heterogeneous platforms and sensors. Deploy ML models and containerized solutions to embedded Linux devices, support DoD field tests, perform computer-/hardware-in-the-loop testing, and collaborate with tracking and autonomy teams to deliver and document robust autonomy solutions.

Lead the architecture, development, and operation of enterprise-grade full-stack software for clinician-facing and performance-management experiences. Design distributed systems, drive technical initiatives, improve scalability and maintainability, adopt modern technologies, deliver iterative releases, and collaborate across organizations. Mentor engineers and establish strong engineering practices. The role requires polyglot programming, cloud platforms, modern front-end development, SQL, distributed systems, and production operations experience.

Lead architecture and implementation of Cloudflare Tunnel systems (client and edge services). Design, code, test, monitor, and scale distributed, secure microservices. Mentor peers, drive roadmap, debug production issues, and collaborate with security, SRE, network engineering, and product teams.

Contribute production-quality code to Palantir products (Gotham, Foundry, Apollo) across the full product lifecycle. Collaborate with engineers, PMs, designers, and users; prototype, implement, and ship features. Learn on the job with mentorship and opportunities to engage directly with customers to understand real-world use cases.

Join Palantir Production Infrastructure to build and operate large-scale platforms (Rubix, Apollo) and core deployment, observability, and Kubernetes-based PaaS tooling. Own full product lifecycle, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and deploy software supporting civil and defense customers while learning from a paired mentor.

Develop and ship production-quality software for Palantir's Gotham defense product. Work across the product lifecycle on features like geospatial tools and release infrastructure, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and be mentored while contributing code and prototypes to mission-critical systems.