Drone Engineer

Modern Intelligence; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision for you and a1

Flexible PTO

Paid Holidays

Parental Leave

Job summary

Modern Intelligence seeks a Drone Engineer to maintain a diverse fleet of drones and to integrate autonomy software across platforms. You will troubleshoot flight controllers and electrical systems, ensuring robust operation even in challenging environments.

The role requires experience with fixed-wing and copter drones, ArduPilot/Betaflight, and willingness to relocate to Austin, TX, with travel as needed. Equity is offered in addition to base compensation.

Qualifications

• Experience with both fixed-wing and copter drones.
• Direct experience with ArduPilot or Betaflight.
• Willingness to relocate to Austin, TX.
• Willingness to travel.
• U.S. person due to export-controlled technology.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a diverse fleet of drones and ensure uptime.
• Integrate and evaluate our autonomy software on new platforms.
• Troubleshoot flight controllers and electrical systems.
• Collaborate across teams to deploy drone solutions.

Skills

Drones

ArduPilot

Betaflight

CAD

3D printing

Education

Degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical Eng

Tools

PX4

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.