GNC/Autopilot Engineering Manager (All genders)

Stark Defence; Germany (OH); On-site; USD 102,762 - 159,853; Full time

Job summary

STARK is a defence technology company focused on autonomous systems, designing, building, and deploying high‑performance platforms. You will own the flight control and navigation stack, developing the control and state‑estimation foundation that every other system depends on while growing a team of engineers.

This leadership role demands deep GNC experience, proven production deployments, and strong collaboration with hardware, perception, and systems teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software (robotics) engineering experience in the GNC domain.
• 3+ years in a leadership role with direct people management experience.
• Proven track record deploying robotics software into production.
• Fluent English; German is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a fast-expanding team of engineers working on flight control, guidance, and state estimation.
• Facilitate and execute the technical direction for the autopilot stack: control theory (PID/LQR/MPC), sensor fusion architecture, state estimation (EKF/UKF), and real-time performance.
• Partner with hardware, perception, and systems engineering teams to ensure navigation performance holds end-to-end.
• Own technical roadmap planning for your domain and represent it to your Director and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Bring software engineering best practices to the team such as the C4 architecture model, clean code principles and software design patterns.
• Moderate the peer review process with the team and ensure knowledge sharing across different seniorities.
• Drive hiring, mentoring, and career development for your team as well as ways of working together.
• Report on technical risk, schedule, and capacity to leadership.
• Drive test and validation strategy, from simulation and HIL testing through live trials.

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

Job description

About Us

STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionising the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop, and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost-effective — providing operators with a decisive edge in contested environments.

We are focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems — not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe, today.

About the team

Your mission

You will own the flight control and navigation stack that keeps our autonomous platforms stable, predictable, and precise — from first power-on to final approach (GNC = Guidance, Navigation, Control). This isn\u2019t a maintenance role: you\u2019re building the control and state-estimation foundation that every other system on the platform depends on, while growing a team of engineers who can own that responsibility with you. Success looks like a navigation and control stack that performs reliably under the demanding, contested conditions our systems are built for.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a fast-expanding team of engineers working on flight control, guidance, and state estimation
• Facilitate and execute the technical direction for the STARK autopilot stack: control theory (PID/LQR/MPC), sensor fusion architecture, state estimation (EKF/UKF), and real-time performance
• Partner with hardware, perception, and systems engineering teams to ensure navigation performance holds end-to-end, not just in isolation
• Own technical roadmap planning for your domain and represent it to your Director and cross-functional stakeholders
• Bring software engineering best practices to the team such as the C4 architecture model, clean code principles and software design patterns
• Moderate the peer review process with the team and ensure knowledge sharing across different seniorities
• Drive hiring, mentoring, and career development for your team as well as ways of working together
• Report on technical risk, schedule, and capacity to leadership
• Drive test and validation strategy, from simulation and HIL testing through live trials

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software (robotics) engineering experience in the domain of GNC (guidance, navigation, and control)
• 3+ years in a leadership role (Team Lead, Head of, Engineering Manager, or equivalent) with direct people management experience
• Provent track record of deploying robotics software application into production environment
• Strong knowledge about the GNC domain
• Fluent English; German is a plus

Nice to have

• Proven track record taking autonomous systems with GNSS-denied navigation system from design to production fielded, flight-tested products
• Experience with PX4, ArduPilot, or comparable open-source autopilot stacks
• Background in aerospace, robotics, or MINT programs
• Exposure to systems operating in contested or degraded environments
• Prior experience scaling a technical team in a startup or fast-growing engineering org
• Familiarity with MIL-STD or STANAG-aligned development practices

If you\u2019re interested in building the future of European defence with us and you see yourself reflected in the description above, please send us your CV in English. We’re looking forward to meeting you.