Drone Engineer

Drone.vet; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full Medical, dental, and vision

Flexible PTO

Paid Holidays

Paid Parental Leave

Job summary

Drone.vet in Austin, TX is seeking a Drone Engineer to keep a highly heterogeneous fleet of drones operational while integrating and evaluating our autonomy software on new platforms.

You will troubleshoot flight controllers, electrical systems, and mechanical issues, with opportunities to own drone development and potentially lead the drone team. Willingness to relocate to Austin and travel is required; the role involves export-controlled tech.

Qualifications

• Experience with both fixed wing and copter drones.
• Direct experience with ArduPilot or Betaflight.
• Willingness to relocate to Austin, Texas.
• Willingness to travel.
• Must be a U.S. person (export-controlled tech).

Responsibilities

• Maintain and troubleshoot a highly heterogeneous fleet of drones.
• Integrate and evaluate our autonomy software on new platforms.
• Troubleshoot flight controllers and electrical systems.
• Collaborate with hardware and software teams on drone development.
• Potentially lead the drone development initiative.

Skills

Drone systems

ArduPilot

Betaflight

Drones (fixed wing & copter)

Relocation willingness

Travel willingness

Education

Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical/Computer Engineering or Computer Science degree

Tools

CAD

3D printing

Job description

Modern Intelligence builds Sovereign, targeting software for unmanned systems. Manufacturers install it on UAVs, USVs, UUVs, and other unmanned vehicles. Sovereign runs on the vehicle’s computer. It detects, classifies, and tracks targets from the onboard cameras, keeps identity when the picture breaks up, and can run terminal guidance into impact. It keeps working when GPS is out and the radio is jammed.

We’ve held Department of War contracts, including work with Air Force Special Operations and SOCOM.

We’ve raised more than $12 million from Bedrock, Vine, Contrary, Air Street, Caffeinated, Champion Hill, Swell, Myelin, and others.

Details

We are looking for someone who loves building and flying drones. You will be working with many many drones from a wide variety of companies. You will be responsible for keeping a highly heterogeneous fleet of drones up and running, while also playing a key role in integrating and evaluating our autonomy software on new platforms. We expect you to solve any problem that comes up in the drone’s flight controller, the electrical systems, or any physical problem.

We are working with the job title of Drone Engineer, but we are open to using other titles that may be more suitable to the candidate: e.g. Aerospace Engineer (with appropriate background), Mechanical Engineer, Electrical Engineer, etc.

Requirements

• Experience with both fixed wing and copter style drones.
• Direct experience with ArduPilot or Betaflight.
• Willingness to relocate to Austin, Texas.
• Willingness to travel.
• Must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)). This role works on export-controlled technology.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with both ArduPilot and Betaflight, including ELRS/CRSF radio links.
• Experience with less common drone configurations such as tail sitters, VTOL, etc.
• Experience with UGVs and USVs.
• Has built their own drones.
• Experience with CAD and 3D printing.
• Degree in one of: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering (or equivalent), or Computer Science.

Nice to have

• Experience with PX4.
• Experience with autonomy.
• Willingness to travel to Ukraine.

$100,000 - $125,000 semi monthly

Compensation Specifics

• Final offer depends on demonstrated depth in a systems language and how much of the stack you can pick up quickly.
• Equity is granted on top of base for every full-time role.

Benefits

• Full Medical, dental, and vision for you and all members of your family
• Flexible PTO
• Paid Holidays: All federal holidays + last two weeks of the calendar year
• Paid Parental Leave: 3 Months

We are investing heavily in increasing our ability to fly, test, integrate with, and maintain drones from a wide array of different drone vendors. Although we have experience spread around our company, aside from a pilot, this is the first role we are hiring with this focus.

Strong candidates will have an opportunity to not only shape, but potentially own the team that owns all of our drones and drone development.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.