UAV Operations Engineer / Pilot – Data Operations (all genders)

Stark Defence; Germany (OH); On-site; USD 69,069 - 103,603; Full time

Job summary

STARK is seeking an experienced drone data-operations professional to own field data-collection campaigns across Europe. You will plan flights, configure PX4/ArduPilot stacks, fly missions, and ensure clean data offload for perception and autonomy systems.

You will collaborate with hardware/ robotics engineers, maintain flight logs, and ensure compliance with EU drone regulations and safety practices. English is required; German is a plus.

Qualifications

• Confident, experienced drone pilot with substantial real-world flight hours.
• EU A2/A3 certificate or willingness to obtain quickly.
• Solid knowledge of PX4 and/or ArduPilot: configuration and log analysis.
• Experience operating sensor payloads and ground control stations in the field.
• Willingness to travel regularly for field campaigns and outdoors.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute field data-collection campaigns across Europe: flight planning, site assessment, pre-flight checks, piloting, logging, and post-flight data offload.
• Configure, tune, and troubleshoot PX4/ArduPilot flight stacks for stable data-collection flights.
• Analyze flight logs to diagnose issues and improve platform reliability.
• Operate sensor payloads (cameras, gimbals, lidar, GNSS/IMU) during missions and verify recordings on-site.
• Maintain flight logs and campaign documentation for traceable data.
• Ensure compliance with aviation regulations (EU drone rules) and safety procedures.

Skills

Drone piloting

Campaign planning

Flight log analysis

English communication

Travel readiness

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

MAVLink basics

Ground Control Stations

Job description

About Us

STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionizing 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. This provides our operators with a decisive edge in highly contested environments.

We're 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

The Data Operations team owns the entire data lifecycle behind STARK's AI stack: collection, acquisition, generation, curation, and management. We run our own data-collection campaigns across Europe, evaluate new sensors and platforms, and build the internal data platform that turns raw recordings into ready-to-use datasets. Everything we produce feeds directly into the perception and autonomy systems deployed on STARK's platforms — a real data advantage is built, not bought. The team is scaling up right now: real scope, direct impact, no legacy.

Your mission

You own our data-collection flights. When the perception team needs a specific dataset — a new camera at a new angle, a lidar over specific terrain, a thermal sensor at dusk — you plan the campaign, configure and tune the platform, fly the mission, and bring clean data home. Our hardware engineer builds the rigs and mounts, our robotics engineer makes the sensors record — you make it all fly, reliably, again and again. This is a role for someone with real stick time and real PX4/ArduPilot depth: not a desk job with occasional field trips, but the other way around.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute field data-collection campaigns across Europe: flight planning, site assessment, pre-flight checks, piloting, logging, and post-flight data offload

• Configure, tune, and troubleshoot PX4/ArduPilot flight stacks for stable, repeatable data-collection flights

• Analyze flight logs to diagnose issues and continuously improve platform reliability

• Operate sensor payloads (cameras, gimbals, lidar, GNSS/IMU) during missions and verify recordings on-site

• Keep the fleet mission-ready: maintenance, repairs, spare parts, battery management, and configuration control

• Work with our hardware and robotics engineers on payload integration — you define what the platform needs to fly well

• Maintain flight logs and campaign documentation so every flight produces usable, traceable data

• Ensure operations comply with aviation regulations (EU drone rules) and internal safety procedures

Qualifications

• Confident, experienced drone pilot with substantial real-world flight hours (multirotor; fixed-wing a plus), holding an EU A2/A3 certificate or willing to obtain quickly

• Solid practical knowledge of PX4 and/or ArduPilot: configuration, parameter tuning, log analysis, MAVLink basics

• Hands-on experience assembling, repairing, and maintaining drones — comfortable with soldering, wiring, and multimeter debugging

• Experience operating sensor payloads and ground control stations in the field

• Practical, structured, and safety-conscious — you find the loose cable before it becomes a crash

• Willingness to travel regularly for field campaigns and work outdoors in various conditions

• Good communication skills in English (German is a plus)

Nice to have

• Scripting skills (Python, Bash) for flight log processing and data offload automation

• CAD basics (Fusion 360, SolidWorks) and 3D-printing experience

• Experience with ROS/ROS2 recording setups or companion computers (Jetson, Raspberry Pi)

• Background in FPV, drone racing, RC modeling, competition teams, or maker culture

• Experience with camera settings and image quality trade-offs for data collection

• German driving license class B (field campaigns)