UAV Operations Engineer / Pilot – Data Operations (all genders)

United States Digital Space LLC; München; Vor Ort; EUR 60.000 - 90.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

STARK seeks an experienced drone data-collection specialist to plan, fly, and manage European campaigns. You will configure flight stacks, operate payloads, and ensure clean data is captured and logged for downstream AI/perception systems.

You will work closely with hardware and robotics engineers, traveling regularly for field campaigns while adhering to EU drone rules and safety standards.

Qualifikationen

• Confident, experienced drone pilot with real-world flight hours.
• EU drone knowledge and certificate preferred.
• Willingness to travel for field campaigns and outdoor work.

Aufgaben

• Plan and execute field data-collection campaigns across Europe, including flight planning and pre-flight checks.
• Configure and tune PX4/ArduPilot stacks for stable data-collection flights.
• Analyze flight logs to diagnose issues and improve platform reliability.
• Operate sensor payloads during missions and verify recordings on-site.
• Maintain flight logs and campaign documentation for traceability.
• Ensure compliance with aviation regulations and safety procedures.

Kenntnisse

Drone piloting

Field campaigns

Flight log analysis

Sensor payload handling

English communication

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

MAVLink

Ground control stations

Gimbal systems

Jobbeschreibung

About Us

STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionizing the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost-effective. This provides our operators with a decisive edge in highly contested environments.

We're focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems — not future promises. In a time of rising threats, the company is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe — today.

About the team

The Data Operations team owns the entire data lifecycle behind the company's AI stack: collection, acquisition, generation, curation, and management. We run our own data-collection campaigns across Europe, evaluate new sensors and platforms, and build the internal data platform that turns raw recordings into ready-to-use datasets. Everything we produce feeds directly into the perception and autonomy systems deployed on the company's platforms — a real data advantage is built, not bought. The team is scaling up right now: real scope, direct impact, no legacy.

Your mission

You own our data-collection flights. When the perception team needs a specific dataset — a new camera at a new angle, a lidar over specific terrain, a thermal sensor at dusk — you plan the campaign, configure and tune the platform, fly the mission, and bring clean data home. Our hardware engineer builds the rigs and mounts, our robotics engineer makes the sensors record — you make it all fly, reliably, again and again. This is a role for someone with real stick time and real PX4/ArduPilot depth: not a desk job with occasional field trips, but the other way around.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute field data-collection campaigns across Europe: flight planning, site assessment, pre-flight checks, piloting, logging, and post-flight data offload
• Configure, tune, and troubleshoot PX4/ArduPilot flight stacks for stable, repeatable data-collection flights
• Analyze flight logs to diagnose issues and continuously improve platform reliability
• Operate sensor payloads (cameras, gimbals, lidar, GNSS/IMU) during missions and verify recordings on-site
• Keep the fleet mission-ready: maintenance, repairs, spare parts, battery management, and configuration control
• Work with our hardware and robotics engineers on payload integration — you define what the platform needs to fly well
• Maintain flight logs and campaign documentation so every flight produces usable, traceable data
• Ensure operations comply with aviation regulations (EU drone rules) and internal safety procedures

Qualifications

• Confident, experienced drone pilot with substantial real-world flight hours (multirotor; fixed-wing a plus), holding an EU A2/A3 certificate or willing to obtain quickly
• Solid practical knowledge of PX4 and/or ArduPilot: configuration, parameter tuning, log analysis, MAVLink basics
• Hands-on experience assembling, repairing, and maintaining drones — comfortable with soldering, wiring, and multimeter debugging
• Experience operating sensor payloads and ground control stations in the field
• Practical, structured, and safety-conscious — you find the loose cable before it becomes a crash
• Willingness to travel regularly for field campaigns and work outdoors in various conditions
• Good communication skills in English (German is a plus)

Nice to have

• Scripting skills (Python, Bash) for flight log processing and data offload automation
• CAD basics (Fusion 360, SolidWorks) and 3D-printing experience
• Experience with ROS/ROS2 recording setups or companion computers (Jetson, Raspberry Pi)
• Background in FPV, drone racing, RC modeling, competition teams, or maker culture
• Experience with camera settings and image quality trade-offs for data collection
• German driving license class B (field campaigns)

A note on our process

a portfolio says more than a CV here. Show us your builds and your flights — photos, flight logs, competition entries. If you don't hit every bullet point but you have been flying and fixing drones for years, we still want to hear from you.