UAV/Drone R&D Engineer

About the Role

This role leads the design, development, and integration of UAV systems and subsystems, ensuring performance, safety, reliability, and scalability. It involves providing technical direction across propulsion, flight control, power, avionics, communication, and payload systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and integration of UAV systems and subsystems.
• Provide technical direction across propulsion, flight control, power, avionics, communication, and payload systems.
• Lead, manage, and mentor a team of UAV engineers.
• Provide technical guidance, establish engineering best practices, review designs, and foster a collaborative and high-performance engineering environment.
• Oversee the integration of mechanical, electrical, avionics, software, propulsion, power, communication, flight-control, and payload systems.
• Drive UAV R&D and product innovation by evaluating emerging technologies, developing new features, improving existing systems, and identifying opportunities to enhance UAV performance and capabilities.
• Lead UAV system testing, ground testing, flight testing, validation, and performance evaluation.
• Identify technical issues, conduct failure analysis, and implement corrective actions.
• Continuously evaluate and optimize UAV designs to improve flight performance, payload capacity, endurance, reliability, efficiency, and overall system performance.
• Ensure UAV designs and systems meet applicable safety, quality, regulatory, and certification requirements.
• Participate in design reviews, technical audits, risk assessments, and safety evaluations.
• Work closely with R&D, manufacturing, production, testing, operations, sales, and other cross-functional teams.
• Oversee engineering activities throughout the product lifecycle, from concept development and prototyping to testing, validation, production, deployment, and continuous improvement.
• Maintain technical documentation including design specifications, engineering reports, test plans, test results, design reviews, and failure analysis reports.
• Present technical updates and recommendations to senior management.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• UAV/Drone Industry Experience: 7+ years of professional experience specifically in the UAV/Drone industry.
• UAV Design & Development: Strong experience designing and developing multirotor, fixed-wing, or hybrid UAV systems.
• UAV System Integration: Proven experience integrating mechanical, electrical, avionics, propulsion, power, communication, flight-control, navigation, and payload systems.
• Flight Control & Dynamics: Strong understanding of UAV flight dynamics, stability, navigation, flight-control systems, and autopilot systems.
• Avionics & UAV Components: Strong knowledge of flight controllers, motors, ESCs, batteries, GPS/GNSS, sensors, telemetry, communication systems, and other UAV components.
• Hardware & Software Integration: Hands-on experience integrating UAV hardware with flight-control software, firmware, sensors, and onboard systems.
• Flight Testing & Validation: Practical experience in UAV flight testing, system validation, performance evaluation, troubleshooting, and failure analysis.
• R&D and Product Development: Proven experience taking UAV products from concept and prototyping through testing, validation, and deployment.
• Technical Leadership: Minimum 2 years of experience leading UAV engineering teams or technical projects.
• Regulatory & Safety Compliance: Working knowledge of applicable UAV regulations, safety standards, certification requirements, and compliance processes.
• Engineering & Simulation Tools: Experience with relevant UAV engineering tools such as CAD, MATLAB/Simulink, simulation, analysis, CAM, and PLM tools.

Qualifications

• Bachelors or Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related engineering discipline.
• 4- 6 years of professional experience in the UAV/drone industry is mandatory.
• 2+ years of experience in a technical leadership role within UAV/Drone engineering is mandatory.
• Proven track record of designing, developing, integrating, testing, and deploying UAV systems.
• Strong hands-on experience across UAV hardware, avionics, flight control, propulsion, power, navigation, communication, and payload systems.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams including R&D, manufacturing, testing, production, and operations.
• Experience with UAV regulatory compliance, certification, quality assurance, and safety processes is highly preferred.