Chief Systems Architect — Autonomous Drone Platform Leader

AIRO Group

Phoenix, Northern (AZ, KY)

Hybrid

USD 180,000 - 240,000

Full time

6 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Health Savings Account (HSA)

401(k) with company match

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Commuter Benefits

Fully paid Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Job summary

AIRO Group seeks a seasoned Chief Systems Architect to lead hands-on engineering across our high-growth drone division. You will own system design, MOSA-oriented baselines, and production-grade hardware/software realized from complex requirements.

You will guide cross-functional teams through MBSE-driven design, rigorous testing, and field-ready deployment, optimizing SWaP-C while integrating autonomy algorithms and secure interfaces. This role delivers impact in defense and commercial platforms.

Qualifications

10+ years of systems engineering and architecture experience in aerospace/defense/autonomous robotics.
Proven track record leading system-level architecture, payload integration, and SWaP-C trade studies for unmanned aircraft systems.
Deep MOSA and NDAA compliance expertise, open architecture buses, and ICD compliance.
Hands-on MBSE with modeling tools plus Jira/Confluence governance.
Leadership in setting technical standards and coordinating cross-functional teams.
Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

Act as chief engineering authority across drone programs, defining system boundaries, flight-critical architectures, and standard APIs.
Architect MOSA baselines and oversee ICDs with NDAA compliance.
Design end-to-end UAV platforms, integrating avionics, propulsion, payloads, power, and onboard compute.
Lead SWaP-C trades to optimize compute, payloads, and power.
Implement MBSE workflows (Cameo, MATLAB/Simulink) for validation and tracing.
Interface with government and commercial customers for proposals and reviews.
Drive platforms through SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR to flight readiness.
Evaluate AI/ML and edge computing for mission performance.