Drone Jobs

Flarebright · Bicester · £39,000 – £49,000 pa

Contributes across the full development lifecycle, from concept and algorithm design to system integration, testing and troubleshooting of safety-critical navigation and autonomy software in C++. Works with a multidisciplinary team on real-time embedded systems, hardware/software-in-the-loop testing and flight test activities, producing design documentation and test reports.

National Crime Agency · Gillingham · £47,049 pa

Lead drone pilot for the NCA's Technical Operations unmanned vehicle programme, responsible for flight planning and clearances, piloting a range of UAS and USV platforms, and developing innovative technical surveillance capabilities. The role involves training the drone cadre, engaging with the Civil Aviation Authority and suppliers, and acting as subject matter expert on unmanned vehicles.

Tekever · Bristol

Hands-on role integrating third-party and military-grade sensors into autonomous platforms, building adapters and drivers, and developing sensor/data fusion and geolocation pipelines that turn raw detections into reliable tracks. Ships production C++ and Rust with ROS2, tuning Kalman-filter-based tracking against real and synthetic data, and works daily with AI coding assistants.

Tekever · Bristol

Owns and runs the risk and opportunity management function across major civil and defence programmes, maintaining the Risk and Opportunity Register, applying risk scoring methodology and facilitating identification workshops. Coordinates engineering, safety, certification, supply chain and commercial risk with the Chief Engineer, Safety Manager and Commercial Lead, and reports into programme boards and authority cycles.

Spectrum IT Recruitment · Bampton · £40,000 – £60,000 pa

Design and develop safety-critical embedded software for next-generation autonomous systems, working within a specialist team and contributing to software architecture. The role sits in an evolving, regulated engineering space and requires strong C/C++ embedded skills, real-time systems experience, and comfort with AI applied to robotics.

Shield AI · London

Customer-facing engineer deploying Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software on-site with customers, supporting integration, training and debugging of API issues. Builds AI and autonomy applications using the enterprise SDK in modern C++, and feeds customer insights back to product engineering. Involves roughly 30% travel and pre-sales support such as demos and conferences.

Leonardo · Yeovil

Design or analyse helicopter transmission systems across conventional helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air systems, covering the full product lifecycle from concept to in-service support. Designers produce 3D models and 2D drawings in CATIA V5 for gears, bearings, casings, shafts and couplings; analysts perform stress, fatigue and finite element analysis. The role spans UK and Italian sites with international travel.

Empresaria Group plc · Bristol · £50,000 – £80,000 pa

Develops onboard software for uncrewed aerial systems, spanning autopilots, autonomy, payloads and mission-critical subsystems. Works on existing aircraft and clean-sheet designs, taking code from concept and SIL/HIL simulation through to real-world flight testing, with C++ and/or Rust in embedded and real-time environments.

Matchtech · Cambridgeshire · £350 – £450 pd

Contract CAD engineering role in the aerospace sector, creating accurate 3D geometry from existing designs and CAD data to support specialist UAS sub-module components and assemblies. Day to day involves smooth surface and skeleton modelling in Creo, WINDCHILL data management, the AAX plugin, and liaising with manufacturing facilities for fast-turnaround production of parts such as aerodynamic enclosures and radomes.

Platform Recruitment · Cambridge · £45,000 – £65,000 pa

Design and develop embedded firmware for advanced radar and sensing systems used in UAV applications. Work across the full product lifecycle in a collaborative, engineering-led environment using C/C++ on STM32 microcontrollers in bare-metal and RTOS environments. Engage in system-level debugging and contribute to software architecture for next-generation sensing technologies.

QinetiQ · Ashford

Leads the QinetiQ Target Systems UK business, owning operational performance, financial delivery and strategic growth for aerial targets. Develops product strategies and a UK Centre of Excellence for manufacture and assembly, heading a cross-functional matrix team across engineering and operations. Works within the wider Air Leadership Team and interfaces with international sectors to drive global sales.

Shield AI · London

Lead and coach a team of Forward Deployed Engineers supporting customer deployment, onboarding and sustained use of the Hivemind autonomy SDK in real-world operational environments. The role combines people management, technical escalation and field feedback loops, partnering with product and engineering to improve deployment playbooks and customer readiness. Requires strong C++ and Python background plus up to 30% travel.

Callen Lenz · Salisbury · £50,000 – £60,000 pa

Design and build pixel-perfect, responsive user interfaces for flight control and ground station software, working with React, TypeScript, HTML/CSS and real-time streaming technologies. The role sits in a cross-functional agile team collaborating with UX researchers and designers, contributing to a design system, code reviews and test coverage with Jest, Cypress or RTL.