Application Engineer

Real-Time Innovations
United States
RemoteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Best suited to experienced systems engineers with strong networking and debugging skills working in the Aerospace & Defense industry.

Best fit for

  • Experienced systems engineers with a background in real-time distributed systems and a passion for customer collaboration
    — “thrive at the intersection of distributed architecture, deep-dive systems debugging, and direct customer engagement”
  • Candidates with a strong foundation in embedded systems and network protocols who can translate complex concepts to clients
    — “explain technical trade-offs clearly to other engineers and project leads”
  • Professionals with a history of optimizing mission-critical systems for performance and reliability
    — “optimize microsecond-level deterministic data flows, and ensure mission-critical software performs reliably when failure is not an option”

Things to consider

  • US citizenship is a mandatory requirement for this position due to government regulations
    — “US Citizenship required* Due to applicable laws, government regulations and contract specifications”
  • The role involves a significant amount of travel to client sites, which may be a factor for candidates prioritizing remote work
    — “Willing and able to travel 20–35% to customer sites”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your experience with real-time systems and your ability to debug complex network issues
    — “debug network, performance, and concurrency bugs across customer codebases and embedded environments”
  • Showcase your ability to translate technical insights into actionable feedback for internal teams
    — “pass field insights, edge cases, and feature requests directly back to our internal teams”
  • Demonstrate your capability to create customer-specific proof-of-concept demos and code examples
    — “build working proof-of-concept demos and code examples for customer-specific use cases”
  • Emphasize your hands-on experience with Linux, sockets, and network protocols such as UDP and TCP
    — “strong working knowledge of Linux, sockets, and network protocols (UDP, TCP, multicast)”
  • Include any prior experience with RTI Connext, DDS, or defense platforms like avionics or radar systems
    — “prior experience with RTI Connext, DDS, ROS 2, or message brokers like Kafka and MQTT”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • successful customer projects
  • technical training sessions
  • bug resolution
Typical background
software engineeringtechnical customer support

Skills & requirements

Required

Software EngineeringDebuggingNetwork ProtocolsCustomer EngagementTechnical Training

Preferred

RTI ConnextDDSROS 2Message BrokersAI Developer Tools

Stack & domain

CC++LinuxNetwork ProtocolsDebuggingCommunicationTeamworkLeadershipAerospaceDefenseAvionics

About the role

Original posting from Real-Time Innovations via Greenhouse

From autonomous uncrewed defense systems to next-generation avionics and integrated battle management systems, RTI’s software powers the world’s most demanding real-time platforms. We are looking for an engineer who thrives at the intersection of distributed architecture, deep-dive systems debugging, and direct customer engagement.

As a key member of our Professional Services team, you will act as a trusted technical advisor to leading Aerospace & Defense engineering teams. You will tackle complex distributed systems challenges, optimize microsecond-level deterministic data flows, and ensure mission-critical software performs reliably when failure is not an option.

Learn more about the journey of an Application Engineer here!

✨ What You’ll Do / Responsibilities

Work directly with customer engineers to design and prototype distributed systems using RTI Connext.

Debug network, performance, and concurrency bugs across customer codebases and embedded environments.

Review customer architecture, configuration, and code to catch bottlenecks before deployment.

Build working proof-of-concept demos and code examples for customer-specific use cases.

Run technical training sessions and deep-dive design reviews, both remotely and on-site at customer facilities.

Pass field insights, edge cases, and feature requests directly back to our internal teams.

🎯 What We’re Looking For / Requirements

7-10+ years of software engineering or technical customer-facing engineering experience, with a degree in CS, CE, EE, or equivalent practical background.

Solid development and debugging skills in C and C++.

Strong working knowledge of Linux, sockets, and network protocols (UDP, TCP, multicast).

Comfortable using tools like Wireshark and GDB to track down packet loss, latency spikes, or thread deadlocks.

Able to explain technical trade-offs clearly to other engineers and project leads.

Willing and able to travel 20–35% to customer sites.

US Citizenship required*

*Due to applicable laws, government regulations and contract specifications, we are required to fill this position only with an individual who qualifies as a "U.S. Citizen."

💎 Nice To Have / Preferred Skills

Prior experience with RTI Connext, DDS, ROS 2, or message brokers like Kafka and MQTT.

Experience working on defense platforms, avionics, radar, or robotics.

Familiarity with MOSA open architecture standards (such as FACE or SOSA).

Experience using AI developer tools (like GitHub Copilot, Claude, or ChatGPT) to speed up coding, debugging, and prototyping.

Experience with Java, C#, or Python. 

Experience with RTOS like VxWorks or QNX. 

An active U.S. security clearance.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At RTI, we are dedicated to building a fair and inclusive workplace so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t perfectly align with all qualifications in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway – especially if you have strong systems programming fundamentals, understand networking, and enjoy working directly with people! You may be just the right candidate for this or another one of our open roles. Learn more about our commitment to our workforce, here!

🌟 What We Offer You 

Flexible working schedule 

Remote working + Home Office Stipend to cover the costs of working from home

Flexible Paid Time Off + “Real Vacation Bonus,” an additional bonus for taking more than 1-week of uninterrupted vacation

Annual bonus based on individual and company performance + other prizes and awards 

We recognize employees for their achievements, offer great opportunities for career growth and development, and provide the tools they need to succeed

💙 How is life at RTI

We have been certified as a Great Place to Work for seven consecutive years both in Spain and the US. In addition, we were listed as one of the Best Companies for Women to Advance. 

We live and work by our core values, which emphasize excellence, teamwork, and reaching your potential. Our motto is “Enjoy the journey,” above all we must enjoy what we do and have fun at work. At RTI, you will work in a positive, supportive, diverse environment with a team that truly cares about you.

We are defined by our “Working as One” culture and truly care about team’s interaction. That is why we plan trips for teams to get together in person, enjoy fun team-building activities and events, and feel more connected.

🌍 What We Do 

Real-Time Innovations (RTI) is the data-streaming company for intelligent distributed systems. RTI Connext® software is the critical nervous system for over 2,000 designs across Aerospace and Defense, MedTech, Automotive, and Robotics. Connext is the only real-time data streaming platform that can both control demanding physical systems and integrate them with cloud applications. RTI helps organizations develop, deploy, and scale intelligence and physical AI from edge to cloud, faster. RTI Runs a Smarter World™. Learn more at www.rti.com.

RTI is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.

For more information about how we collect and use your data, please see our Privacy Notice for US Job Applicants and Employees.

Source: Real-Time Innovations careers (Greenhouse)

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