Senior Software Engineer

About Praetorian

Praetorian Aeronautics builds advanced autonomous aerial systems designed to protect and defend against the rapidly evolving threat of drone warfare.

Headquartered in Adelaide, and with offices in Melbourne and Darwin, we're building an integrated ecosystem of counter-autonomy systems — Arrow, Dagger, Hadrian and Venator — that let defence operators detect, assess and defeat autonomous threats while maintaining situational dominance in contested environments.

This role focuses on Hadrian, the AI-enhanced command and control layer that lets operators deploy interceptors at scale.

The Role

Drone swarms are one of the fastest-growing threats in modern warfare, and Hadrian is the platform that turns swarm behaviour into operator decisions.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you'll develop core services within Hadrian supporting swarm analysis, mission coordination, and operational decision-making — working in Rust and Python to build the command-and-control software that connects Praetorian's autonomous defence systems and lets them operate together in complex environments.

What You'll Do

• Develop high-performance services supporting counter-UAS operations
• Work with AI researchers to integrate algorithms into operational software
• Build and maintain Rust applications and services on Linux
• Test and optimise software to ensure reliability in operational environments

What We're Looking For

• 3+ years experience writing efficient system-level software
• Strong programming experience in Rust, C++ or similar languages
• A degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience
• Experience contributing to complex or distributed software systems
• Strong understanding of software architecture and development practices

Nice to Have

• Experience with embedded Linux or cross-platform system development
• Experience with autonomous systems, robotics, or unmanned vehicles
• Experience with reinforcement learning or machine learning systems
• Immediate mode UI experience

Benefits

• Competitive salary and employee share option plan (ESOP)
• Work on advanced autonomy and defence technology
• Join a small, highly technical engineering team
• Real ownership and influence as Praetorian scales
• Professional development and learning opportunities

Interested to find out more? Reach out to us at careers@praetorian-aeronautics.com or hit Apply.