Staff Scrum Master – Embedded Software & Firmware

Job description

Pivotal is the leader in the emerging market of electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. We design, develop, and manufacture light eVTOL aircraft and are renowned for the BlackFly aircraft the world's first light eVTOL to fly manned missions and enter the consumer market. 
 
Efficient, compact, and simple, Pivotal aircraft are designed for a wide range of consumer, public service, and defense applications. Our distinctive tilt-aircraft architecture and scalable platform have been flying for over 10 years. Last year we announced our next-generation aircraft, the Helix, which is rapidly progressing toward general release and scalable production in 2026. 
 
Mobility is one of the most highly-valued areas of modern technology investments. This is the right company, in the right space, the right strategy, at the right time. If you are ready for adventure, we invite you to join our amazing team and grow with us.

About the job

Pivotal is seeking a Scrum Master to support the development and delivery of embedded software and firmware for our next-generation aircraft. This role will work closely with firmware, software, systems, hardware, DevOps, and verification teams to establish clear priorities, maintain execution cadence, identify and remove blockers, and drive work from definition through integration and verification.

This is a hands-on execution role in a fast-paced aerospace development environment. The successful candidate will understand how software is actually developed, integrated, tested, and released in complex hardware products and will be comfortable working across low-level embedded software, device drivers, firmware, automated test, DevOps infrastructure, and aircraft integration.
The Scrum Master will own the operating rhythm of the team while helping engineering leadership maintain visibility into scope, schedule, dependencies, risk, and delivery.

Responsibilities
• Lead Agile/Scrum execution for embedded software, firmware, DevOps, and software verification teams, including sprint planning, daily standups, backlog refinement, reviews, retrospectives, and release planning.

• Partner with engineering leads and product owners to maintain a prioritized, actionable backlog with clearly defined scope, acceptance criteria, dependencies, and completion criteria.

• Drive work to closure by identifying blockers, establishing owners and due dates, and following actions through completion.

• Maintain development plans and execution status across Jira, GitLab, Smartsheet, and Microsoft Project, ensuring that detailed team execution aligns with program-level milestones.

• Coordinate development activities spanning embedded firmware, low-level software, hardware abstraction layers, device drivers, communications interfaces, bootloaders, diagnostics, DevOps, test automation, and software verification.

• Track dependencies between software, electrical hardware, systems engineering, GNC, test, manufacturing, and aircraft integration teams.

• Support release planning, build and integration schedules, regression testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, aircraft testing, and production software releases.

• Work with engineering teams to define and maintain appropriate Definition of Ready and Definition of Done criteria, including code review, testing, documentation, integration, and verification requirements.

• Use GitLab and Jira data to monitor sprint health, backlog maturity, development throughput, defects, aging work, and release readiness.

• Identify schedule, resource, technical, and integration risks early and ensure they are communicated and actively managed.

• Support defect triage and prioritization across development, integration, verification, and flight-test activities.

• Facilitate cross-functional technical discussions when dependencies or competing priorities prevent execution.

• Continuously improve team processes while avoiding unnecessary ceremony or administrative overhead.

• Help engineering leadership translate program milestones into executable software development plans and provide clear, fact-based status against those plans.

• Promote accountability, transparency, and predictable execution while maintaining the flexibility required in a rapidly evolving aircraft-development program.

Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

• 5+ years of experience supporting software or firmware development teams in aerospace, automotive, robotics, autonomous systems, industrial controls, or another complex hardware/software environment.

• 3+ years of experience as a Scrum Master, technical program manager, software project manager, engineering project manager, or similar execution-focused role.

• Strong working knowledge of Jira and GitLab, including backlogs, issues, boards, releases, defects, and development workflows.

• Experience developing and maintaining integrate

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