Autonomy and Field Test Lead (Founding Engineer)

About the role

We are looking for a hands‑on founding engineer to develop dependable autonomy for counter‑UAV systems and to establish a rigorous testing discipline. The role blends engineering and test leadership, balancing priorities across development phases while working on‑site in challenging field conditions.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and integrate autonomy software with real hardware, evaluating technology choices against performance and constraints.
• Translate requirements into test plans, simulations, and hardware‑in‑the‑loop checks with clear acceptance criteria.
• Build instrumentation and data workflows to ensure traceable, reproducible results.
• Plan and lead field campaigns, manage readiness and risk, investigate failures and feed findings back into engineering.
• Establish engineering standards such as code review, documentation, configuration control and regression testing.

Required profile

• Proven track record delivering autonomous aircraft, robots or similar physical systems beyond the lab.
• Strong software and controls background with C++, Python, embedded Linux, estimation, control and sensor integration.
• Experience designing experiments, instrumenting hardware, analyzing data and running safe field campaigns.
• Ability to question assumptions, communicate trade‑offs, document failures and reject unsupported results.
• Experience in UAVs, robotics, defense, environmental testing or safety‑critical systems is a plus.

Required skills

• C++
• Python
• Embedded Linux
• Hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing
• Sensor integration

What we offer

• Cash compensation: €5,000–€7,000 gross per month, plus night‑work compensation.
• Long‑term upside: 1–1.5% Stock Appreciation Rights.
• Direct collaboration with stakeholders and authority over engineering, test quality and safety.
• Opportunity to shape engineering culture and grow with the company as a founding engineer.