Senior System Engineer

AirQ; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 320,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

AirQ is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer in Abu Dhabi to own the Cargo 200 and 40 programmes, translating mission and regulatory needs into system-level requirements and architecture. You will lead verification, validation, and safety activities, and coordinate with mechanical, avionics and software teams under the VP of R&D.

The role demands expertise in propulsion/energy architectures, VTOL concepts, interface control, and MBSE practices, with UAE GCAA airworthiness awareness and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics or Systems Engineering.
• 7+ years engineering experience including 3+ years in a systems engineering role on an aircraft/ UAV.
• Experience taking a programme from concept through flight test or deployment.
• Familiarity with ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, INCOSE practices, requirements management and architecture definition.

Responsibilities

• Own system requirements, decompose into verifiable system/subsystem/interface requirements.
• Lead system architecture definition and trade studies; evaluate power and energy budgets.
• Coordinate interfaces across airframe, propulsion, avionics, flight controls and payload.
• Lead FHA, FMEA/FMECA, FTA safety activities and verification planning.
• Support airworthiness discussions with regulators such as UAE GCAA; ensure traceability of documentation.

Skills

System engineering

Requirements management

Architecture definition

Interface control

Verification & Validation

Safety analysis

English fluency

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in relevant field

Tools

DOORS

Jama

Polarion

PX4

ArduPilot

Job description

AirQ is looking for an experienced Senior Systems Engineer to take technical ownership of the Cargo 200 Programme and 40 Programme, a VTOL cargo UAV designed to carry a 200 kg payload and 40 kg payload.

The role will be responsible for translating mission, customer and regulatory needs into system-level requirements, defining the system architecture, managing interfaces and system budgets, and leading verification and validation activities.

The successful candidate will work across mechanical, avionics and software engineering teams and report directly to the VP of R&D.

Key Responsibilities

Systems Engineering & Architecture

• Own and manage the system requirements set, including mission, customer and regulatory requirements.
• Decompose requirements into system, subsystem and interface requirements that are traceable and verifiable.
• Lead system architecture definition and technical trade studies.
• Evaluate propulsion and energy architectures, including electric, hybrid-electric and heavy-fuel solutions.
• Evaluate VTOL configuration, redundancy, cargo-handling and ground-support concepts.
• Define and control internal and external system interfaces (ICDs).
• Maintain system-level technical documentation and configuration baselines.

System Performance & Technical Oversight

• Establish and manage mass, centre-of-gravity, electrical power and energy budgets across the complete payload envelope up to 200 kg or 400kg.
• Monitor system-level performance and identify design issues affecting aircraft-level budgets.
• Coordinate interfaces between airframe, propulsion, avionics, flight controls, payload and ground-support systems.
• Lead technical trade studies and provide system-level recommendations to the R&D organisation.
• Coordinate with mechanical, avionics and software engineering teams to maintain system-level consistency.

Safety, Verification & Flight Testing

• Lead system safety activities including Functional Hazard Assessment (FHA), FMEA/FMECA and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA).
• Translate safety assessments into redundancy, monitoring and failsafe requirements.
• Plan and lead Verification & Validation activities from component and rig testing through SIL/HIL, tethered and free-flight testing.
• Define requirements-based pass/fail criteria for verification activities.
• Act as the system-level flight test engineer.
• Prepare test cards, support flight envelope expansion, review flight-test data and lead anomaly resolution.

Airworthiness & Technical Coordination

• Support development of the aircraft airworthiness case with the relevant regulator or end customer.
• Work with applicable standards including UAE GCAA and, where applicable, military airworthiness standards such as STANAG 4671.
• Lead technical design reviews including SRR, PDR, CDR and TRR.
• Own and maintain the technical risk register.
• Act as the technical interface with major subsystem suppliers, including powertrain, batteries, actuators and structural components.
• Support technical discussions with customers and external stakeholders.

Documentation & Configuration Management

• Maintain system descriptions and system-level requirements.
• Maintain Interface Control Documents (ICDs).
• Maintain Verification & Validation matrices.
• Maintain safety assessments and configuration baselines.
• Ensure system requirements and technical documentation remain controlled and traceable.

Authority & Accountability

• Own the technical definition of the Cargo 200 system and 40 system at system level.
• Provide technical direction across mechanical, avionics and software interfaces.
• Lead system-level architecture and technical trade-off decisions.
• Establish and maintain system performance, mass, power and energy budgets.
• Lead system safety, verification and validation activities.
• Provide technical sign-off and direction during system-level design and test reviews.
• Maintain the system-level technical risk register and configuration baseline.
• Escalate system-level technical risks and requirements conflicts to the VP of R&D.

Required

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics or Systems Engineering.
• Minimum 7 years of engineering experience, including at least 3 years in a systems engineering role on an aircraft, UAV or comparable complex electromechanical product.
• Experience taking at least one programme from concept through flight test or field deployment.
• Strong understanding of systems engineering processes, including:
• • ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288
  • INCOSE systems engineering practices
  • Requirements management
  • Architecture definition
  • Interface control
  • Verification & Validation
  • Configuration management
• Strong understanding of VTOL aircraft-level performance, including hover and cruise power, energy and endurance estimation, mass properties, centre of gravity and structural load cases.
• Hands-on experience with FHA, FMEA/FMECA and FTA.
• Experience with requirements management tools such as DOORS, Jama, Polarion or equivalent.
• Experience integrating flight-control systems such as PX4, ArduPilot or proprietary systems, including SIL/HIL testing.
• Flight-test experience on unmanned or manned aircraft, including planning, execution and data analysis.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Based in or willing to relocate to Abu Dhabi, UAE, with travel to test sites as required.

Desirable

• Experience with heavy-lift, hybrid-electric or heavy-fuel VTOL aircraft.
• Experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), including SysML, Cameo, Enterprise Architect or Capella.
• Experience with UAV airworthiness and operational approval processes, including STANAG 4671, GCAA, EASA Specific Category or SORA.
• Cargo or logistics UAV experience.
• Helicopter external-load experience, including sling, hook or cargo-bay operations.
• Lithium battery system safety experience.
• High-voltage electrical architecture experience.
• Python or MATLAB experience for performance modelling and flight-data analysis.