UAV Autonomy Engineer - Firmware & Flight Testing

Ascend Engineering; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Ascend Engineering is seeking an engineer to develop and deploy autonomy capabilities on UAV platforms, from embedded flight software to mission logic and system integration. The role emphasizes reliability and practical field performance with hands‑on hardware and software work.

The ideal candidate enjoys debugging complex systems, flying test platforms, and owning projects from concept through field validation, in a United States-based setting.

Qualifications

• Experience modifying or contributing to PX4 or ArduPilot codebases.
• Strong C++ or C programming skills.
• Experience flying and testing UAV platforms.
• Familiarity with MAVLink, flight logs, and autopilot configuration.
• Experience debugging complex software and hardware interactions.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership of tasks.

Responsibilities

• Develop and modify PX4 or ArduPilot firmware to support new autonomy features and system capabilities
• Implement mission logic, flight behaviors, and MAVLink integrations
• Integrate sensors, cameras, radios, and payloads into UAV platforms
• Conduct flight testing and validate system performance in real-world conditions
• Analyze flight logs and telemetry to diagnose and resolve issues
• Debug problems across the UAV stack including firmware, networking, hardware, and companion computers
• Collaborate with engineers to design robust UAV architectures and workflows
• Document system behavior, debugging results, and design decisions

Skills

PX4

ArduPilot

C++

C

MAVLink

Embedded systems

Tools

ROS

Embedded Linux

Job description

Ascend Engineering is seeking an engineer to develop and deploy autonomy capabilities on UAV platforms, from embedded flight software to mission logic and system integration. The role emphasizes reliability and practical field performance with hands‑on hardware and software work.

The ideal candidate enjoys debugging complex systems, flying test platforms, and owning projects from concept through field validation, in a United States-based setting.