Autonomous UAS Test Engineer — Hybrid/Flight & AI

Battelle Memorial Institute; Beavercreek (OH); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work options (60% in-office, 40

Compressed work schedule

Tuition assistance

Job summary

Battelle is seeking a Test Engineer for Autonomous sUAS Systems to lead the planning, execution, and analysis of testing activities supporting defense and national security missions. This position will operate from Beavercreek, OH or Columbus, OH.

In this role, you will validate system performance and autonomy capabilities, develop test strategies, conduct laboratory and field evaluations, and generate detailed customer-facing reports while collaborating with software, RF, cybersecurity, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, systems engineering, robotics, CS, or related field.
• 5+ years in test engineering, systems integration, or aerospace/robotics fields.
• Experience in developing and executing V&V strategies for complex systems.
• Proficiency in Python, C++, MATLAB or similar.
• Travel willingness to support testing activities and customer demonstrations.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of test plans, procedures, and verification activities for autonomous sUAS systems and mission payloads.
• Design and conduct laboratory, simulation, integration, environmental, and field-testing activities.
• Evaluate system performance against requirements and objectives.
• Develop traceability between requirements, test procedures, and results.
• Identify technical risks and mitigation strategies throughout the development lifecycle.
• Validate autonomous capabilities including GPS-denied navigation, waypoint navigation and path planning, obstacle and threat avoidance, target detection and tracking, collaborative autonomy and swarm behaviors, dynamic mission replanning.
• Assess AI/ML-enabled autonomy performance in operational test environments.
• Investigate system anomalies and lead root-cause analysis efforts.
• Support planning, coordination, and execution of flight test events and demonstrations.
• Participate in flight readiness reviews, safety assessments, and mission briefings.
• Oversee collection and QA of telemetry, sensor, communications, and mission data.
• Support testing activities at government ranges, customer facilities, and operational environments.
• Analyze flight and system performance data to identify trends and deficiencies.
• Develop and maintain automated test tools, software utilities, and data analysis scripts.
• Support HIL, SIL, and digital engineering test environments.
• Generate detailed technical reports and customer-facing documentation.
• Collaborate with software, systems, RF, cybersecurity, autonomy, and hardware teams.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote testing best practices.
• Interface with government customers and program stakeholders regarding objectives, execution, and results.
• Ensure testing complies with military, FAA, cybersecurity, and safety requirements.

Skills

Python

C++

MATLAB

Telemetry data analysis

System engineering processes

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering; Mechanical/Electrical/Systems Engineering; Robotics or CS

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

ROS/ROS2

Gazebo

AirSim

Job description

Battelle is seeking a Test Engineer for Autonomous sUAS Systems to lead the planning, execution, and analysis of testing activities supporting defense and national security missions. This position will operate from Beavercreek, OH or Columbus, OH.

In this role, you will validate system performance and autonomy capabilities, develop test strategies, conduct laboratory and field evaluations, and generate detailed customer-facing reports while collaborating with software, RF, cybersecurity, and