Software Architect, In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity

About the job

How you'll help us Keep Climbing (overview & key responsibilities)

Delta's In-Flight Entertainment & Connectivity (IFE&C) team delivers the technology that powers the connected customer experience onboard our aircraft. As a Software Architect, you will serve as a technical leader responsible for defining architecture, evaluating emerging technologies, influencing strategic technical decisions, and guiding the development of innovative onboard software solutions.

This role combines software architecture, systems engineering, connectivity platforms, customer-facing technology, and aviation systems within a highly regulated environment. You will collaborate with engineering teams, product leaders, suppliers, and operational stakeholders to design scalable, secure, and reliable solutions that support Delta's onboard connectivity and entertainment ecosystem. The role also requires partnering with internal organizations and third-party suppliers to develop and integrate software solutions across Delta's IFE&C platforms.

What You'll Do

• Define and drive the technical architecture for Delta's In-Flight Entertainment & Connectivity platforms.
• Provide architectural leadership for software systems supporting onboard connectivity, entertainment, and future digital experiences.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Customer Experience, Product, Design, and IT teams to develop technology solutions that support Delta's onboard customer experience.
• Evaluate and recommend technologies, suppliers, and architectural approaches for new products and capabilities.
• Collaborate with external vendors and software providers to integrate products into Delta's IFE&C ecosystem.
• Lead technical design reviews and provide guidance to software engineering teams throughout the development lifecycle.
• Develop technical requirements, architecture artifacts, design documentation, and executive-level presentations.
• Troubleshoot complex software and systems challenges within distributed, connected, and resource-constrained environments.
• Establish architecture standards, design patterns, and best practices to improve scalability, performance, reliability, and cybersecurity.
• Support innovation initiatives by identifying opportunities to leverage IFE&C technologies across other operational areas within Delta.
• Influence technical roadmaps and long-term platform strategies that help differentiate Delta's customer experience.

Benefits and Perks to Help You Keep Climbing

Our culture is rooted in a shared dedication to living our values – Care, Integrity, Resilience and Servant Leadership – every day, in everything we do. At Delta, our people are our success. At the heart of what we offer is our focus on Sharing Success with Delta employees. Exploring a career at Delta gives you a chance to see the world while earning great compensation and benefits to help you keep climbing along the way:

• Competitive salary, industry-leading profit sharing program, and performance incentives

• 401(k) with generous company contributions up to 9%

• New hires are eligible for up to 2-weeks of vacation. This is earned for use in the following vacation year (April 1 – March 31)

• In addition to vacation, new hires are eligible for up to 56 hours of paid personal time within a 12-month period

• 10 paid holidays per calendar year

• Birthing parents are eligible for 12-weeks of paid maternity/parental leave

• Non-birthing parents are eligible for 2-weeks of paid parental leave

• Comprehensive health benefits including medical, dental, vision, short/long term disability and life insurance benefits

• Family care assistance through fertility support, surrogacy and adoption assistance, lactation support, subsidized back-up care, and programs that help with loved ones in all stages

• Holistic Wellbeing programs to support physical, emotional, social, and financial health, including access to an employee assistance program offering support for you and anyone in your household, free financial coaching, and extensive resources supporting mental health

• Domestic and International space-available flight privileges for employees and eligible family members

• Career development programs to achieve your long-term career goals

• World-wide partnerships to engage in community service and innovative goals created to focus on sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint

• Business Resource Groups created to connect employees with common interests to promote inclusion, provide perspective and help implement strategies

• Recognition rewards and awards through the platform Unstoppable Together

• Access to over 500 discounts, specialty savings and voluntary benefits through Deltaperks such as car and hotel rentals and auto, home, and pet insurance, legal services, and childcare

What you need to succeed (minimum qualifications)

• Is at least 18 years of age and has authorization to work in the United States.
• Possesses a high school diploma, GED, or high school equivalency.
• Embraces diverse people, thinking, and styles.
• Consistently prioritizes safety and security of self, others, and personal data.
• 10+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Software Architecture, Systems Engineering, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience designing and architecting complex software  & hardware based systems. Experience with real-time embedded systems and/or autonomous systems preferred.
• Experience leading technical initiatives and influencing engineering teams without direct authority.
• Strong understanding of software architecture principles, design patterns, and software development best practices.
• Experience creating technical requirements, solution designs, and architectural documentation.
• Ability to identify and influence development teams in developing reusable software components across multiple products and platforms.
• Working knowledge of multiple programming languages and modern software development methodologies. Desired programming languages include C/C++, Java, Node.js, Python
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. This will often include developing scripts/programs that process large data sets; the ability to work with various data sources (databases, large files, streamed data) is required.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Experience with Microsoft tools (Excel, Word etc) is required
• Experience operating in highly regulated, mission-critical, or customer-facing technology environments. Experience in aviation systems is preferred.
• Working knowledge of Linux Operating System platforms.
• Experience developing Containerized applications utilizing Docker and/or Kubernetes technologies.
• Working knowledge in web-based applications and UI design technologies, including HTML, JavaScript, nginx, and REST APIs. Ability to analyze and/or debug web-based applications is required.
• Strong networking experience. Ability to analyze and/or debug lower-level network protocols is required. Specifically, knowledge of DHCP, DNS, TCP, and TLS, VLAN and 802.11 (Wi-Fi).
• Basic understanding of Cybersecurity principles is required.

What will give you a competitive edge (preferred qualifications)

• Experience architecting software solutions in aviation, aerospace, telecommunications, connectivity, or other regulated industries.
• Experience with real-time, embedded, distributed, or resource-constrained systems.
• Experience with aircraft systems, avionics, inflight entertainment platforms, or inflight connectivity technologies.
• Experience working with satellite communications, wireless networking, edge computing, or onboard connectivity systems.
• Experience partnering with third-party technology providers, suppliers, and external engineering teams.
• Proven ability to evaluate technology tradeoffs and influence strategic technical decisions across multiple stakeholder groups.
• Working knowledge of Bluetooth protocol(s) is desirable.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.