Senior C2 Systems Engineer

Technology Innovation Institute; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Technology Innovation Institute seeks a Senior C2 Systems Engineer to own the Common Operational Picture (COP) and the command-and-control of a multi-sensor platform. You will define COP Fusion, track management, and interoperability, enabling operator displays, alerts, and downstream APIs.

You will design mission workflows, enforce guardrails, and build mission-planning and asset-tasking flows. Collaboration with hardware teams and field testing will be essential as you test in lab and in field

Qualifications

• 5+ years in systems or mission-systems engineering for real-time, multi-sensor or autonomous platforms.
• Ownership of an operational picture or multi-sensor C2 system from requirements to field deployment.
• Hands-on sensor management including tasking, health monitoring, and calibration across diverse sensors.
• Real-time distributed systems fluency with DDS, ROS/ROS 2, ZeroMQ, MQTT, or gRPC/protobuf.
• Solid programming in Python and/or C++, Linux and containerized environments.
• Degree in Systems, Electrical, Aerospace, Computer, Robotics Engineering, or related field (BSc/MSc).

Responsibilities

• Define, build, and evolve the COP across domains.
• Own track management, data models, and interoperability.
• Design and implement operator workflows for detection, decision, and tasking.
• Drive integration with Hardware Integration Engineers and define ICDs.
• Define and run test campaigns and ensure traceability.

Skills

Real-time systems

Multi-sensor C2

Python

C++

Linux

Containerized environments

Education

BSc/MSc in Systems, Electrical, Aerospace, Computer, Robotics Engineering or related field

Tools

Python

C++

ROS/ROS 2

DDS

ZeroMQ

MQTT

gRPC/protobuf

Linux

Docker

Job description

Our intelligent platform sees the whole picture. It fuses a distributed network of sensors and unmanned systems into a single, trustworthy operational picture. As Senior C2 Systems Engineer you own the command-and-control layer of that platform that turns what it sees into what it does: the Common Operational Picture (COP), the management and control of the sensor network, and the command workflows operators use to task assets and act on what the system detects.

This is a hands‑on mission‑systems engineering role scoped at the sensor‑to‑decision level. Your focus is the operational picture, sensor C2, communications, and mission workflows for our platform.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Common Operational Picture (COP)

• Define, build, and evolve the COP: real‑time fusion of tracks, detections, and platform states into a single operational view across domains (air, ground, sea, and others).
• Own track management and correlation at the systems level — identity and classification handling, geo‑registration, and time synchronization across a heterogeneous sensor set.
• Specify how the COP is presented and consumed — operator displays, tactical maps, alerts, and downstream APIs — in partnership with the UI and integration teams.
• Own the COP data models, message schemas, and interoperability choices.
• Own the sensor management layer: tasking, mode control, scheduling, and de‑confliction across radar, EO/IR, RF, acoustic, and other sensors.
• Build sensor health monitoring, status reporting, calibration workflows, and graceful degraded‑mode behavior.
• Define the control interfaces and C2 protocols between the platform core and individual sensors and unmanned systems.
• Optimize coverage, cueing, and sensor‑to‑sensor hand‑off (slew‑to‑cue) and the allocation of sensing resources.

Command & control workflows

• Design and implement operator workflows across the chain — detection, classification, decision support, tasking, and response — including alerting, prioritization, and hand‑off logic.
• Encode mission rules and automation policies at the workflow level, with clear guardrails and human‑on/ in‑the‑loop controls where required.
• Build mission‑planning and asset‑tasking flows that assign sensors, drones, and effectors to areas or targets.
• Ensure every C2 action is traceable, logged, and available for after‑action review.

Systems integration — with the Hardware Integration Engineer

• Partner closely with the HW Integration Engineers to bring new sensors onto the platform — you own the software and systems side of each interface while they own hardware bring‑up.
• Author and maintain Interface Control Documents (ICDs), integration test plans, and acceptance criteria for every device.
• Drive integration in the lab and in the field — ground tests, and live field trials.
• Own requirements, architecture, interfaces, and verification & V&V for the C2 / mission‑systems subsystem, keeping decomposition and traceability current.
• Define and run test campaigns (unit, integration, system, field) and turn field data into requirements and fixes.
• Hold the latency, reliability, and real‑time performance budgets for the sensing‑to‑decision chain.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 5+ years in systems or mission‑systems engineering for complex real‑time, multi‑sensor, or autonomous systems — e.g. defense, aerospace, robotics, C‑UAS, ISR, ADAS, or air‑traffic.
• Ownership of an operational picture or multi‑sensor C2 system — a COP, track/sensor fusion layer, or equivalent — taken from requirements through field deployment.
• Hands‑on sensor management and control: tasking, health monitoring, and calibration across heterogeneous sensors (radar, EO/IR, RF, acoustic, or similar).
• Real‑time distributed systems fluency — networking and messaging middleware such as DDS, ROS/ROS 2, ZeroMQ, MQTT, or gRPC/protobuf.
• Interface & V&V discipline — you have authored ICDs, integration test plans, and verification artifacts, and you enjoy the field debugging that comes with them.
• Solid programming in Python and/or C++, comfortable in Linux and containerized environments.
• Field-ready — willing and able to integrate and test hardware in the loop and support live trials on‑site.
• Degree in Systems, Electrical, Aerospace, Computer, Robotics Engineering, or a related field (BSc/MSc).

NICE TO HAVE

• Direct experience with drones/UAS, counter‑UAS, ISR, or effector integration.
• Familiarity with tactical data and interoperability standards (Cursor‑on‑Target, Link‑16 / STANAG family, ASTERIX, MAVLink, MISB).
• Sensor‑fusion and multi‑target tracking background (Kalman family, JPDA, MHT).
• GIS / geospatial and tactical mapping experience (e.g., the ATAK/TAK ecosystem).
• Exposure to autonomy and AI perception pipelines, and to human‑machine teaming.
• Model‑based systems engineering (SysML) and experience in test‑range or safety‑critical environments.