Flight Controls Engineer

Pitch Aeronautics; Boise (ID); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

120 hrs of paid time off

Health Insurance

Dental & Vision Insurance

Short-term disability insurance

Long-term disability insurance

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Paid holidays

Flexible work schedule

Job summary

Pitch Aeronautics Inc. in Boise, ID is seeking a Flight Controls Engineer to design, model, and tune controllers for a cyclorotor UAV. You will deploy to PX4 hardware, extend simulations with Gazebo/SITL, and analyze logs to improve performance.

You’ll work hands-on in shop and in the field with a small team. The role requires 3+ years in UAV control design, strong MATLAB/Simulink skills, and hands-on flight testing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering with a focus on controls.
• 3+ years designing and testing control systems for UAVs, aircraft, or robots.
• Strong MATLAB/Simulink skills, including code generation for embedded targets.
• Solid grounding in classical control: PID/PD design, feedforward, saturation and anti-windup, rate limiting.
• Hands-on flight or hardware testing experience including log analysis.
• Python for data analysis and tooling; Git.
• Clear technical writing.

Responsibilities

• Design, model, and tune flight controllers (attitude, position, altitude, yaw, trim) in MATLAB/Simulink and deploy to PX4-based hardware.
• Build and maintain vehicle dynamics models, including cyclorotor, and extend simulation (Gazebo, SITL).
• Write test plans and run stand and flight tests with the drone ops crew.
• Analyze flight logs (PX4 ULog) for tracking error, motor saturation, and vibration; build faster analysis tools.
• Make the controller robust to estimator events (EKF resets, IMU switches, GPS dropouts).
• Characterize propulsion (thrust vs. RPM) and integrate results into the control code.
• Develop control for aerial manipulation: lateral positioning, wind rejection, and contact with the conductor during sensor installs.
• Configure and integrate motor controllers over DroneCAN.
• Document design decisions, manage control code in Git, and post updates for the team.
• Mentor technicians and interns, and work with pilots on how the aircraft feels to fly.

Skills

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

Git

Technical writing

Flight testing

On-site Boise travel

Education

Bachelor's in Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical Eng (controls)

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

Gazebo

Job description

Pitch Aeronautics Inc. Flight Controls Engineer

Location: Boise, ID

• Full time

Astria is a custom heavy-lift drone that combines lift motors with a cyclorotor for lateral force. It runs our own Simulink-built controllers on PX4-based flight hardware. It flies real installs on utility lines today. You'll contribute to controller changes from idea to flight. That means modeling the vehicle, designing and tuning the controller, testing it on the stand, flying it with our pilots, and reading the logs to find out what actually happened. It's a small team, so you'll be in the shop and in the field, not just at a desk. We're an AI-driven company. AI tooling runs throughout our engineering workflow, including MATLAB and Simulink work, log analysis, and simulation.

About Pitch Aeronautics Inc.

Pitch Aeronautics (www.pitchaero.com) is a rapidly growing startup creating game-changing solutions for the utility industry. Pitch has developed a drone to install our line sensor, bird diverters, and other equipment on power lines. Our drone-deployable line sensors wirelessly transmit environmental and line characteristics to an online secure API to help utilities push more power through existing lines, prevent wildfires, and improve grid reliability.

At Pitch we’ve fostered a collaborative, fun, “get-stuff-done” working environment. We believe in moving fast and creating products and prototypes rapidly. If you’re looking for a place where you can make a difference on day one, be empowered to achieve, and love working in small teams, we want to meet you!

Responsibilities

• Design, model, and tune flight controllers (attitude, position, altitude, yaw, trim) in MATLAB/Simulink and deploy them to PX4-based flight hardware.


• Build and maintain vehicle dynamics models, including the cyclorotor, and extend our simulation capability (e.g., Gazebo, SITL).


• Write test plans and run test-stand and flight tests with the drone ops crew.


• Analyze flight logs (PX4 ULog) for tracking error, motor saturation, and vibration, and build tools that make that analysis faster.


• Make the controller robust to estimator events such as EKF resets, IMU switches, and GPS dropouts.


• Characterize propulsion (thrust vs. RPM, motor and prop selection) and fold the results back into the control code.


• Develop control for aerial manipulation: precise lateral positioning, wind rejection, and contact with the conductor during sensor install and removal.


• Configure and integrate motor controllers over DroneCAN.


• Document controller design decisions and changes, manage control code in Git, and post clear updates for the team.


• Mentor technicians and interns, and work with pilots on how the aircraft feels to fly.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with a focus on controls.


• 3+ years designing and testing control systems for UAVs, aircraft, or robots, or a graduate degree with significant hands-on flight-test work.


• Strong MATLAB/Simulink skills, including code generation for embedded targets.


• Solid grounding in classical control: PID/PD design, feedforward, saturation and anti-windup, rate and jerk limiting, and frequency-domain analysis.


• Hands-on flight or hardware testing experience, including reading logs to diagnose problems.


• Python for data analysis and tooling; Git.


• Clear technical writing.


• Able to work on-site in Boise and travel occasionally for field tests and installs.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with PX4 or ArduPilot internals (uORB, EKF2) and Pixhawk/Cube hardware.


• Multirotor or unconventional rotorcraft dynamics; cyclorotor experience is a big plus.


• Aerial manipulation or contact control.


• State estimation and sensor fusion.


• Simulation with Gazebo, SITL, or HITL.


• CAN/DroneCAN and motor controller integration.


• FAA Part 107 certificate or piloting experience.


• Master's or PhD in controls, robotics, or aerospace.


• Fluency with AI assistants in engineering work, and enough depth to catch them when they're wrong.

Benefits

• 120 hrs of paid time off


• Health Insurance


• Dental & Vision Insurance


• Short-term disability insurance


• Long-term disability insurance


• Health Savings Account (HSA)


• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)


• Paid holidays


• Paid holidays


• Flexible work schedule

In accordance with applicable federal regulations and requirements Pitch Aeronautics does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age.