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Senior Software Engineer HMI/UI/UX

Pyka
On-site
Alameda, CA
Transportation

Pyka is looking for a Senior Software Engineer with a strong aesthetic sense and a passion for crafting seamless human-machine interfaces. In this role, you’ll take full ownership of our “Plane View” application — a real-time Qt/QML-based interface that plays a central role in our aircraft operations.
This project has evolved through team-wide contributions, and now it’s ready for a dedicated leader. You’ll bring structure, consistency, and technical depth to the application — transforming it into a reliable, elegant, and intuitive experience. If you've built UIs for complex systems like vehicles, medical devices, or robotics, you already know the challenges (and rewards) of designing interfaces people depend on in real-world environments.


About Pyka

Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation.

To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems. 

We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes.

Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. 

Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce C02 emissions in their respective industries. 

What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day. 

Responsibilities

  • Take full ownership of Plane View, our core Qt/QML application and other human-machine interfaces in our codebase
  • Define and uphold interface standards, visual consistency, and usability across our user interfaces
  • Design and implement intuitive, high-performance user interfaces for real-time systems
  • Collaborate with a multidisciplinary engineering team; guide interface architecture and improvements
  • Serve as the go-to UI/UX expert for the team and a key voice in product usability discussions

Preferred Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience in software engineering with a UI/UX focus
  • Strong experience with Qt (bonus points for QML)
  • Experience with modern (C++11 and beyond) C++ coding
  • A background in building human-machine interfaces — automotive, aerospace, medical devices, or similar
  • A keen eye for design and user experience — you care deeply about how software looks and feels
  • Able to work independently and take full ownership of complex projects
  • Experience with JavaScript is a plus, but Qt/QML proficiency is key

Company Perks

  • $165,000–$196,000 per year base salary + equity. Compensation will vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Salary ranges are subject to change.
  • Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance
  • FSA with employer matching
  • 401(k)
  • Paid holidays, generous PTO, and additional unpaid time off
  • Voluntary short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance
  • Pre-tax commuter benefits
  • Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks

Export Control Requirements

This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls.  Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items. 

Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions.

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We do not work with external recruiters; if you are an external recruiter, please do not reach out.