Drone Engineer – Autonomy & AI Flight Systems

Orion Placement; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Retirement plan

Vision insurance

Job summary

Orion Placement is seeking a hands-on drone engineer for an on-site role in Austin, TX. You will build, test, and troubleshoot a diverse fleet of drones, integrating autonomy software and supporting flight demonstrations.

You will work with fixed-wing and multirotor platforms, configure flight controllers, and collaborate with engineers to improve performance. US citizenship is required.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of hands-on drone engineering or UAV integration experience.
• Experience with fixed-wing and multirotor drones.
• Direct experience using ArduPilot or Betaflight.
• Strong troubleshooting across flight controllers, electronics, and mechanics.
• Experience building, repairing, configuring, or modifying drones.
• Hands-on with different UAV platforms and willingness to learn new systems.
• Willingness to work on-site in Austin, TX and travel as needed.
• US citizenship is required.
• Experience with PX4, VTOL, ELRS/CRSF, CAD, 3D printing, robotics or autonomy software is a plus.
• Engineering degree preferred but not required with strong practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Build, maintain, troubleshoot, and test a fleet of drones (fixed-wing and multirotor).
• Integrate autonomy software and support flight testing.
• Diagnose flight controller, electrical, and hardware issues.
• Configure flight controllers using ArduPilot or Betaflight.
• Collaborate with engineers to assess new drone platforms and improve performance.
• Support hardware modifications, electronics integration, and system upgrades.
• Conduct hands-on testing to ensure drones are safe and deployment-ready.
• Document issues, maintenance, configurations, and test results.
• Contribute to growth of our drone engineering capabilities.

Skills

Drone engineering

Troubleshooting

Hands-on hardware testing

Flight testing

Documentation

Education

Engineering degree preferred

Tools

ArduPilot

Betaflight

PX4

CAD

3D printing

Job description

Orion Placement is seeking a hands-on drone engineer for an on-site role in Austin, TX. You will build, test, and troubleshoot a diverse fleet of drones, integrating autonomy software and supporting flight demonstrations.

You will work with fixed-wing and multirotor platforms, configure flight controllers, and collaborate with engineers to improve performance. US citizenship is required.