Autonomous Flight Guidance & Motion Planning Specialist

Harmattan AI; Zürich; On-site; CHF 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Harmattan AI is seeking a Flight Guidance & Motion Planning Engineer to own motion planning, trajectory generation, and guidance laws. The role is based out of Lausanne, Paris, or Zurich, and involves consuming inputs from the estimator and perception pipeline to hand references to the control loop.

You will weigh classical against learning-based methods, handle latency, and work across simulation, SITL, and HITL, with opportunities to mentor junior engineers depending on seniority.

Qualifications

• Strong academic background in aerospace, robotics, GNC or related STEM field.
• Experience with onboard motion planning, trajectory generation and guidance laws on flying platforms.
• Hands-on experience closing a control loop on a perception output, handling latency and dropout.
• Familiarity with learning-based planning or guidance and simulation-based training.

Responsibilities

• Motion Planning: Plan dynamically feasible paths onboard, including obstacle avoidance and replanning.
• Trajectory Generation: Convert paths into references within airframe and actuator limits.
• Guidance Laws: Design laws to steer aircraft along the reference.
• Interfaces & Perception Coupling: Manage ego-state input contracts from Navigation and perception pipeline, handle latency/dropout.
• Mode & Failsafe Logic: Cover cruise, loiter, approach, and lost-link behavior.
• Flight Test & Diagnosis: Validate via simulation, SITL, HITL, and logs.
• Mentorship: Mentor junior engineers as needed.

Skills

Motion planning

Trajectory generation

Guidance laws

Perception coupling

Learning-based methods

Mentorship

Education

Aerospace/GNC degree

Job description

Harmattan AI is seeking a Flight Guidance & Motion Planning Engineer to own motion planning, trajectory generation, and guidance laws. The role is based out of Lausanne, Paris, or Zurich, and involves consuming inputs from the estimator and perception pipeline to hand references to the control loop.

You will weigh classical against learning-based methods, handle latency, and work across simulation, SITL, and HITL, with opportunities to mentor junior engineers depending on seniority.