Application Engineer - Drone Team

Freefly Systems; Woodinville (WA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Autonomy in projects

Work with top talent

Focus on long-term value

Job summary

A leading drone technology company in Woodinville is seeking innovative individuals to develop the next generation of their Ground Control Station (GCS) and enhance drone autonomy. The role emphasizes problem-solving, rapid skill acquisition, and collaborative development in a small team environment. Expect challenging and rewarding work that contributes to long-term innovations in drone technology. Compensation ranges from $110,000 to $160,000 annually based on experience.

Qualifications

• You thrive in rapid problem-solving environments.
• You can deliver actionable solutions in tight timeframes.
• You are comfortable with ambiguity and challenging discussions.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of the Ground Control Station (GCS).
• Engage in designing novel control systems for drone autonomy.
• Work on improving the integration of embedded systems in drones.

Skills

Problem-Solving

Mastering new concepts and skills rapidly

Radical Honesty

Speed & Precision

First Principles Thinking

Job description

Freefly Systems - Woodinville, WA (Onsite)

About Freefly

At Freefly, we do things differently. We push boundaries in some of the most challenging technical spaces, without external funding or third-party investments. Why? Because this gives us the freedom to prioritize long-term customer value (10+ years) and allows us to make decisions based on what's honest, efficient, and exciting. We focus on building extraordinary products and empowering our customers to achieve the extraordinary with them.

This path is demanding, and that’s why we need exceptional people—those who can outmaneuver, outthink, and out-innovate the competition. Freefly isn’t for those seeking ‘business as usual.’ We offer autonomy, ownership, and the liberty to innovate. In return, we expect boldness, honesty, and ambition.

You:

• Wake up ready to create—you’re fueled by making.
• Thrive at the intersection of design and tech—engineering meets artistry.
• Perfect just enough to ship fast—done is the engine of more.
• Own what you build—no waiting for permission.
• Say “yes” first—then figure out the best approach.
• Love a challenge—you push boundaries and find a way.
• Automate the boring stuff—efficiency is everything.
• Use AI as a superpower—ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity? You wield them like a pro.
• Think in systems, not just code—scalable, elegant solutions over hand-crafted software.

What you'll work on

At Freefly, we pride ourselves on developing everything in-house — from first concepts to fully integrated systems, across hardware and software. Here are a few of the cutting-edge areas we’re working on, and where you might be contributing:

• Drone Ecosystem Architecture: Ground-breaking embedded systems to support advanced flight dynamics, communication networks, and seamless sensor integration.
• Flight Autonomy: Designing novel control systems and navigation solutions to enable smarter, autonomous drone operations.
• Ground Control Station (GCS): Crafting the next generation of user interfaces for our GCS, which powers seamless drone operations for professionals — from cinematographers to industry inspectors.
• Payload Innovation: Integrating diverse payloads (including cameras, LiDAR, and sensors) that provide our users with wide-reaching capabilities, from mapping to real-time obstacle avoidance.
• User Applications: Developing applications for Android, iOS, and Web that allow intuitive, robust interactions between users and our advanced drone systems.
• Next-Generation Software Systems: Building comprehensive systems that tie everything together — from full-stack interfaces to flight control algorithms and real-time data management.

A key focus of this role is to help build the next generation of our Ground Control Station (GCS). You’ll work closely with our team to create a system that will push the boundaries of drone control, integrating advanced autonomy, seamless user interfaces, and high-performance hardware.

Our first drones were designed for professional cinematography, built on our custom flight controller. Today, our latest drones use the PX4 ecosystem, making our tools even more accessible. If you're ready to raise the bar and join our team, we’d love to chat!

The Challenges You'll Tackle

We need your help to answer the following questions:

• System Integration: How can we design and develop the next generation of our Ground Control Station (GCS) to seamlessly integrate with our drone ecosystem, achieving an optimal balance between design, quality, time, and cost?
• Development Strategy: Should we pursue native development for superior performance in our applications, or leverage cross-platform technologies to enhance efficiency without compromising quality?
• Web Technologies: Can web technologies be effectively utilized in mobile development to accelerate our development cycle while maintaining top-tier UX and UI standards?
• Ecosystem Harmony: How can we ensure that every new component—be it a new app or GCS system—plays harmoniously within our existing ecosystem, enhancing rather than complicating the system?
• Innovation with Lean Teams: How can we continuously innovate at a high level with a minimal team size, ensuring that we out-innovate larger competitors?
• Speed vs. Quality: What strategies can we implement to move fast without sacrificing the quality and innovative design of our products?
• User Experience: How do we deliver an exceptional user experience and interface design that not only meets but exceeds industry standards, setting us apart in the drone space?
• Technology Evaluation: What approaches can we take to continuously evaluate and integrate new technologies, while ensuring that our system remains adaptable and future-proof?
• Scalability & Flexibility: In what ways can we design our systems—whether hardware, software, or user applications—to be flexible and adaptable, allowing others to seamlessly build upon and integrate with our platforms?
• Staying Ahead of the Curve: What methodologies can we adopt to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving drone technology landscape, ensuring we remain leaders in the field over the next decade?

What We Expect

At Freefly, small teams mean big impact. We optimize for high innovation per person, so conventional job descriptions don’t apply here. Instead, we focus on traits and qualities that make someone a perfect fit for our culture:

• Problem-Solving: You master new concepts and skills rapidly, going from zero knowledge to competence in under a week. You know how to use the fastest, most efficient tools to tackle problems.
• Radical Honesty & Growth-Oriented: You speak up about hard truths with your team. You’re comfortable engaging in candid, constructive discussions and are radically transparent. You accept failures as opportunities for growth and learning.
• Speed & Precision: You thrive in ambiguous situations and enjoy delivering concrete, actionable solutions within tight timeframes—sometimes in less than 12 hours.
• Balance of Long and Short-Term Goals: You can hold both short-term product launches and long-term (10-year horizon) goals in your mind, while delivering well-executed work in both areas.
• First Principles Thinker: You strive to get to the core of a problem, always looking for the fastest, simplest, most impactful approach to solve it.

Why You Should Join

• Autonomy & Ownership: We're a small but fierce team, where individual impact and ownership are paramount. You’ll have the autonomy to lead critical projects from day one.
• Challenging & Rewarding Work: You’ll work on an ever-evolving technology stack, solving problems that have the potential to set the bar for the entire industry.
• Long-Term Value: With no external funding or third-party investments, we’re focused on creating products that last. Your work will have a profound impact on the future of drone technology and the customers we serve.
• Collaborate with Top Talent: You’ll work alongside some of the brightest minds in the industry who are just as passionate about pushing the boundaries as you are.

Compensation

• Salary Range: $110,000 - $160,000/yr depending on experience.

If this sounds exciting, and you're ready to tackle these challenges with us, send your answers (from the 'Challenges You'll Tackle' section) to [e-mail] , don’t forget to include a portfolio if you have one and maybe share a war story or two!