Senior Datalink Engineer & Drone Communications Architect

FlyingBasket; Bolzano; On-site; EUR 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Accommodation for the first weeks

Accident insurance coverage

Lunch and snacks at headquarters

Job summary

FlyingBasket, based in Bolzano, is building autonomous heavy-lift cargo drones. The Principal Datalink Engineer will own the technical foundation of the datalink, moving from first prototype to advanced capability, with no mandatory people management but high technical leadership and impact.

The role emphasizes SDR development, RF systems, and secure, robust long-range communications, with an initial focus on a low-rate C2 datalink using SDR hardware and subsequent expansion to encryption and

Qualifications

• The candidate has built real systems before, not only simulations or papers.
• Able to design a communication system, implement the first version, measure performance, and iterate.

Responsibilities

• Develop FlyingBasket-owned drone datalink technology from early prototypes toward advanced flight-ready systems.
• Architect and build SDR-based prototypes for command-and-control, telemetry, and future video transmission.
• Define the technical approach for secure, robust, long-range drone communications.
• Design and evaluate modulation, synchronization, coding, packetization, link-layer behavior, and receiver architectures.
• Develop practical test methods to measure range, sensitivity, latency, reliability, link-margin, and link availability.
• Demonstrate weak-signal and long-range communication capability through controlled testing and flight-relevant experiments.
• Make key technical tradeoffs across performance, robustness, cost, power, weight, manufacturability, and regulatory constraints.
• Work with flight software, avionics, electronics, operations, and product teams to integrate the datalink into FlyingBasket aircraft.
• Guide future hiring and technical direction for the datalink area, without being required to manage a team.
• Help turn drone communications into a core FlyingBasket technical advantage.

Skills

SDR & digital comms

RF systems

Antenna design

Modulation & coding

Long-range comms

Secure comms

Embedded software

FPGA/SoC

UAV/ aerospace

Prototype to product

Technical leadership

Job description

FlyingBasket, based in Bolzano, is building autonomous heavy-lift cargo drones. The Principal Datalink Engineer will own the technical foundation of the datalink, moving from first prototype to advanced capability, with no mandatory people management but high technical leadership and impact.

The role emphasizes SDR development, RF systems, and secure, robust long-range communications, with an initial focus on a low-rate C2 datalink using SDR hardware and subsequent expansion to encryption and