Senior Lead UAV Engineer

Keka Inc.; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Marut Drones in Hyderabad, India seeks a Senior Lead UAV Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, testing, and deployment of advanced UAV systems. You will lead a team of UAV engineers, drive R&D and product innovation, and ensure performance, safety, reliability, and scalability across the product lifecycle.

The candidate should have 7+ years UAV industry experience, hands-on in system architecture, flight controls, avionics, propulsion, and cross-functional leadership.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in UAV/Drone industry with hands-on UAV design and deployment.
• Experience designing and integrating multirotor, fixed-wing, or hybrid UAV systems.
• Strong knowledge of UAV flight dynamics, autopilot systems, and sensors.
• Proven ability to lead UAV engineering teams or technical projects.
• Familiarity with UAV regulations, safety standards, and certification processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and integration of UAV systems and subsystems.
• Mentor and manage a team of UAV engineers; establish engineering best practices.
• Oversee system integration across mechanical, electrical, avionics, software, and payloads.
• Drive R&D and product innovation to enhance UAV performance and capabilities.
• Lead UAV testing, validation, and failure analysis; implement corrective actions.
• Ensure designs meet safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.

Skills

UAV System Integration

Flight Control

Avionics

R&D Leadership

Regulatory Compliance

Team Leadership

Education

Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering

Master's in Mechanical/Electrical Engineering

Tools

CAD

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Marut Drones is seeking an experienced Senior Lead UAV Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, testing, and deployment of advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems. The role involves leading a team of UAV engineers, driving R&D and product innovation, and ensuring the technical performance, safety, reliability, and scalability of drone systems throughout the product lifecycle.

The ideal candidate should have strong hands‑on experience in the UAV/Drone industry, along with proven expertise in UAV system architecture, flight controls, avionics, propulsion, system integration, testing, and technical leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead UAV Development: Lead the design, development, and integration of UAV systems and subsystems, ensuring performance, safety, reliability, and scalability. Provide technical direction across propulsion, flight control, power, avionics, communication, and payload systems.
• Team Leadership: Lead, manage, and mentor a team of UAV engineers. Provide technical guidance, establish engineering best practices, review designs, and foster a collaborative and high-performance engineering environment.
• UAV System Integration: Oversee the integration of mechanical, electrical, avionics, software, propulsion, power, communication, flight-control, and payload systems to develop fully functional UAV platforms.
• R&D and Innovation: Drive UAV R&D and product innovation by evaluating emerging technologies, developing new features, improving existing systems, and identifying opportunities to enhance UAV performance and capabilities.
• Testing and Validation: Lead UAV system testing, ground testing, flight testing, validation, and performance evaluation. Identify technical issues, conduct failure analysis, and implement corrective actions.
• Design Optimization: Continuously evaluate and optimize UAV designs to improve flight performance, payload capacity, endurance, reliability, efficiency, and overall system performance using engineering analysis and simulation tools.
• Quality, Safety & Compliance: Ensure UAV designs and systems meet applicable safety, quality, regulatory, and certification requirements. Participate in design reviews, technical audits, risk assessments, and safety evaluations.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with R&D, manufacturing, production, testing, operations, sales, and other cross-functional teams to ensure UAV products meet technical, production, customer, and business requirements.
• Product Lifecycle Management: Oversee engineering activities throughout the product lifecycle, from concept development and prototyping to testing, validation, production, deployment, and continuous improvement.
• Technical Documentation & Reporting: Maintain technical documentation including design specifications, engineering reports, test plans, test results, design reviews, and failure analysis reports. Present technical updates and recommendations to senior management.

Mandatory Skills & Experience

• Mandatory UAV/Drone Industry Experience: 7+ years of professional experience specifically in the UAV/Drone industry, with hands‑on experience in UAV design, development, system integration, testing, and deployment.
• UAV Design & Development: Strong experience designing and developing multirotor, fixed‑wing, or hybrid UAV systems.
• UAV System Integration: Proven experience integrating mechanical, electrical, avionics, propulsion, power, communication, flight‑control, navigation, and payload systems.
• Flight Control & Dynamics: Strong understanding of UAV flight dynamics, stability, navigation, flight‑control systems, and autopilot systems.
• Avionics & UAV Components: Strong knowledge of flight controllers, motors, ESCs, batteries, GPS/GNSS, sensors, telemetry, communication systems, and other UAV components.
• Hardware & Software Integration: Hands‑on experience integrating UAV hardware with flight‑control software, firmware, sensors, and onboard systems.
• Flight Testing & Validation: Practical experience in UAV flight testing, system validation, performance evaluation, troubleshooting, and failure analysis.
• R&D and Product Development: Proven experience taking UAV products from concept and prototyping through testing, validation, and deployment.
• Technical Leadership: Minimum 2 years of experience leading UAV engineering teams or technical projects, with the ability to mentor engineers and provide technical direction.
• Regulatory & Safety Compliance: Working knowledge of applicable UAV regulations, safety standards, certification requirements, and compliance processes.
• Engineering & Simulation Tools: Experience with relevant UAV engineering tools such as CAD, MATLAB/Simulink, simulation, analysis, CAM, and PLM tools.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related engineering discipline.
• 4- 6 years of professional experience in the UAV/drone industry is mandatory.
• 2+ years of experience in a technical leadership role within UAV/Drone engineering is mandatory.
• Proven track record of designing, developing, integrating, testing, and deploying UAV systems.
• Strong hands‑on experience across UAV hardware, avionics, flight control, propulsion, power, navigation, communication, and payload systems.
• Experience working with cross‑functional teams including R&D, manufacturing, testing, production, and operations.
• Experience with UAV regulatory compliance, certification, quality assurance, and safety processes is highly preferred.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with agricultural, industrial, commercial, or other application‑specific UAV platforms.
• Experience with UAV autopilot platforms and flight‑control systems.
• Experience with MATLAB/Simulink or other UAV simulation and modelling tools.
• Experience with UAV certification and regulatory processes.
• Experience with product development, prototyping, and design‑for‑manufacturing.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, decision‑making, and technical communication skills.

Compensation

Competitive compensation, open to discussion based on experience, technical expertise, and role fit.

Required Skills

UAV System Integration Flight Control & Flight Dynamics Avionics & Autopilot Systems UAV/Drone Industry Experience UAV Design & Development UAV Flight Testing & Validation