Senior Guidance Engineer: Autonomous Drone Motion & Mission Planning

XTEND; Tampa (FL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Roboticsconnected is seeking a Senior Guidance Engineer to advance drone autonomy, focusing on guidance and mission-level decisions for high-performance aerial platforms in dynamic environments.

You will design and deploy guidance and motion planning algorithms to enable precise, high-speed maneuvers and robust mission execution, collaborating with hardware, embedded software, and perception teams.

Qualifications

• BSc or MSc in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering fields.
• 3+ years of experience in GNC, guidance, autonomy, or related aerospace/robotics fields.
• Strong experience with AI tools, guidance algorithms, trajectory generation, and motion planning.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize guidance and motion planning algorithms for autonomous drones.
• Define mission-level behaviors and guidance logic, balancing performance, safety, and robustness.
• Implement real-time control interfaces to execute trajectories reliably in uncertain conditions.
• Work closely with embedded software, mechatronics, and perception teams to ensure seamless integration.
• Identify and address edge cases and failure modes, building resilience and graceful degradation.
• Stay current with advancements in drone autonomy, guidance, motion planning, and control.

Skills

GNC

Guidance algorithms

Trajectory generation

Motion planning

Drone development

C++

Python

ROS 2

PX4

ArduPilot

System integration

Education

BSc in Mechanical Engineering

BSc in Aerospace Engineering

MSc in Mechanical/Aerospace

Tools

ROS 2

PX4

ArduPilot

C++

Python

Job description

Roboticsconnected is seeking a Senior Guidance Engineer to advance drone autonomy, focusing on guidance and mission-level decisions for high-performance aerial platforms in dynamic environments.

You will design and deploy guidance and motion planning algorithms to enable precise, high-speed maneuvers and robust mission execution, collaborating with hardware, embedded software, and perception teams.