Senior Drone Hardware Engineer – Flight Systems & HIL Lead

Applied Intuition; Fort Walton Beach (FL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity & bonuses

401k & retirement benefits

Learning and wellness stipends

Job summary

Applied Intuition in Fort Walton Beach, FL seeks a Senior Robotics Hardware Engineer to lead hardware-software bring-up and validate flight systems from bench to airfield. You will bridge autopilot firmware, onboard compute, and sensors, ensuring robust interfaces and high data integrity.

The role emphasizes HIL/SIL verification, real-time monitoring tools, and defining scalable hardware abstractions for maintainable flight software.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related technical field.
• At least 5 years of experience in robotics hardware integration, embedded systems, or aerospace engineering.
• Deep expertise in vehicle electronics integration bridging autopilot firmware with onboard compute and sensors.
• Strong proficiency in C++ and Python, with experience in hardware abstraction layers or drivers for real-time systems.
• Hands-on experience with CAN, UART, I2C, SPI, MAVLink.

Responsibilities

• Lead hardware-software bring-up, integrating and validating flight systems from bench to airfield.
• Bridge autopilot firmware, onboard compute, and peripheral hardware to deliver flight-ready systems.
• Define and control interfaces across flight controllers, payloads, and ground stations for data integrity.
• Make system-level tradeoffs between embedded software performance, autonomy, and hardware constraints.
• Design and scale automated testing with HIL/SIL environments and realistic simulations.
• Architect verification workflows for rapid iteration from code to flight behavior.
• Build tooling for real-time monitoring and post-flight analysis to improve system performance.
• Serve as technical authority between hardware, GNC, and software teams.
• Support flight test campaigns as hands-on lead, troubleshooting integration issues.
• Set standards for design patterns and hardware abstraction to ensure maintainability.

Skills

C++

Python

CAN

UART

I2C

SPI

MAVLink

GNC integration

embedded systems

vehicle electronics

PX4

ArduPilot

NVIDIA Jetson

Raspberry Pi

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical Engineering / Computer Engineering

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

Job description

Applied Intuition in Fort Walton Beach, FL seeks a Senior Robotics Hardware Engineer to lead hardware-software bring-up and validate flight systems from bench to airfield. You will bridge autopilot firmware, onboard compute, and sensors, ensuring robust interfaces and high data integrity.

The role emphasizes HIL/SIL verification, real-time monitoring tools, and defining scalable hardware abstractions for maintainable flight software.