The role
Own systems integration across the full platform: pull together avionics, flight control, propulsion, payload, and comms subsystems designed by separate teams into a UAV that flies as one coherent system, not a collection of parts that happen to be bolted together.
Tune and validate flight controller PID loops against real airframe dynamics — bench-test, iterate, and confirm stability and control response holds across the operating envelope before a platform ever leaves the ground for its first sortie.
Run compatibility testing across payload, GCS, and comms configurations as client requirements change — a new sensor, a different datalink, a mission profile nobody tested for — so integration risk gets caught on the bench, not in the field.
Sit at the centre of cross-functional coordination between design, firmware, test, and manufacturing, and carry that same rigour into direct client interaction: supporting deployed systems, diagnosing field issues, and translating operator feedback back into engineering requirements.
Requirements
- Four or more years in systems integration, controls, or platform engineering for UAV, robotics, or aerospace hardware
- Practical experience tuning PID or equivalent control loops on real hardware, not only in simulation
- Comfortable running structured compatibility and regression testing across changing hardware/software configurations
- Strong cross-functional coordination skills — you translate between firmware, mechanical, and test teams without losing precision
- Confident in direct client and field interaction, including troubleshooting under operational time pressure
- Systems-level thinking: you trace a symptom back through subsystem interfaces instead of guessing at the nearest fix
Nice to have
- INCOSE or formal systems engineering training
- Experience with requirements management and traceability tooling (DOORS, Jama, or similar)
- Field deployment or customer-support experience for defence or industrial hardware
- Familiarity with multiple autopilot/GCS ecosystems (PX4, ArduPilot, proprietary stacks)
Education
Bachelor's in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electronics, or Systems Engineering
Compensation
Structured to compete with leading defence and aerospace employers.