Autonomy Engineer (UAV) - Hands-on Flight & Systems

Ascend Engineering; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Ascend Engineering seeks a Robotics & Autonomy Engineer to develop, integrate, and maintain autonomy features on UAV platforms built around PX4 and ArduPilot stacks. This full-time role emphasizes hands-on integration, debugging, and real-world flight validation across the UAV stack from embedded flight software to system integration.

The ideal candidate brings solid robotics fundamentals in estimation, controls, and coordinate frames, with eagerness to grow expertise in PX4, VIO, map matching,

Qualifications

• Strong robotics/autonomy fundamentals: coordinate frame transformations, state estimation (Kalman filtering / sensor fusion), and PID control analysis.
• Strong C++ or C programming skills.
• Experience with PX4 or ArduPilot — or demonstrated ability to ramp quickly on a complex embedded autopilot codebase.
• Experience flying and testing UAV or robotic platforms.
• Familiarity with MAVLink, flight logs, and autopilot configuration.
• Experience debugging complex software and hardware interactions.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership of engineering tasks across multiple projects.
• Strong problem-solving skills and practical engineering judgment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and modify PX4 or ArduPilot firmware to support new autonomy features and system capabilities.
• Implement mission logic, flight behaviors, and MAVLink integrations.
• Integrate sensors, cameras, radios, and payloads into UAV platforms.
• Tune and analyze estimation and control performance (EKF/Kalman filtering, PID loops) across platforms.
• Conduct flight testing and validate autonomous behaviors in real-world conditions.
• Analyze flight logs and telemetry to diagnose and resolve issues.
• Debug problems across the UAV stack including firmware, networking, hardware, and companion computers.
• Collaborate with engineers to design robust UAV architectures and workflows.
• Document system behavior, debugging results, and design decisions.

Skills

Coordinate frames

State estimation

Kalman filtering

Sensor fusion

PID control

C/C++

PX4 / ArduPilot

UAV flight testing

MAVLink

Debugging

Ownership

Problem solving

Tools

ROS/ROS2

Nav2

MAVSDK

Companion computers

Job description

Ascend Engineering seeks a Robotics & Autonomy Engineer to develop, integrate, and maintain autonomy features on UAV platforms built around PX4 and ArduPilot stacks. This full-time role emphasizes hands-on integration, debugging, and real-world flight validation across the UAV stack from embedded flight software to system integration.

The ideal candidate brings solid robotics fundamentals in estimation, controls, and coordinate frames, with eagerness to grow expertise in PX4, VIO, map matching,