Senior UAS Control Systems Engineer

Matchtech; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Matchtech is hiring a hands-on Senior UAS Flight Control Engineer to develop and deploy flight-control algorithms for a flagship UAS programme in Yorkshire, with a hybrid working pattern.

You will take algorithms from simulation to ground test and flight test, owning verification and validation evidence, and support flight dynamics modelling, control-law tuning, SIL/HIL testing and data analysis. This is a permanent, full-time role with a salary of £50,000–£90,000.

Qualifications

• Strong background in flight control, autonomy and aerospace controls.
• Experience developing/testing control algorithms on real hardware.
• Practical UAS/UAV/aircraft/robotics platform exposure.
• Solid understanding of flight dynamics, stability and tuning.
• Experience with modelling, simulation, testing and V&V.
• Ability to analyse flight-test data and diagnose control/stability issues.
• Familiar with IMUs, GNSS/INS, actuators and onboard systems.
• Strong documentation discipline and validation evidence.

Responsibilities

• Develop and evolve flight-control algorithms for UAS platforms.
• Take algorithms from simulation to ground test and flight test, owning verification/validation evidence.
• Support flight dynamics modelling, control-law development, tuning and simulation work.
• Configure, tune and integrate autopilot systems where appropriate.
• Support GNC integration and sensor/actuator troubleshooting.
• Contribute to SIL/HIL test strategies and tooling.
• Support system identification, flight-test planning and data analysis.
• Work with avionics, aerospace design, software, operations and test teams.
• Document configuration, test results and readiness status to high standard.

Skills

Flight control systems

Autonomy/robotics

Flight dynamics

Verification & Validation

Data analysis

Tools

PX4 autopilot ecosystems

ArduPilot

ROS/ROS2

Python

C/C++

Job description

Senior UAS Flight Control Engineer (Permanent) - Yorkshire (Hybrid)

We're hiring a hands-on Flight Control Engineer to develop and deploy novel flight-control algorithms for a flagship UAS programme, helping ensure the aircraft is stable, controllable, testable and ready for safe, repeatable operations.

Salary: £50,000-£90,000

Location: Yorkshire (Leeds)

Type: Permanent

What you'll do

• Develop and evolve flight-control algorithms/control approaches for UAS platforms


• Take algorithms from simulation → ground test → flight test, owning verification/validation evidence


• Support flight dynamics modelling, control-law development, tuning and simulation work


• Configure, tune and integrate autopilot systems where appropriate


• Support Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) integration and sensor/actuator troubleshooting


• Contribute to SIL/HIL test strategies and tooling


• Support system identification, flight-test planning and flight-data analysis


• Work closely with avionics, aerospace design, software, operations and test teams


• Document configuration, test results, readiness status and validation outputs to a high standard

What we're looking for (essential)

• Strong background in flight control / control systems / autonomy / robotics / aerospace controls


• Experience developing and testing control algorithms on real-world hardware


• Practical UAS/UAV/aircraft/robotics/autonomous platform exposure


• Solid understanding of flight dynamics, control theory, stability and tuning


• Experience with modelling, simulation, testing and V&V


• Ability to analyse flight-test data and diagnose control/stability issues


• Comfortable with IMUs, GNSS/INS, actuators, sensor-fusion and onboard systems


• Strong documentation discipline (validation evidence matters)

Nice to have

• Novel control laws for unconventional aircraft/UAS


• PX4, ArduPilot or similar autopilot ecosystems


• ROS / ROS2


• Python and/or C/C