Drone Jobs

• Oakley
• Senior · manages people

Provides technical leadership across mechanical and aerospace development for unmanned systems, owning complex design tasks and mentoring engineers from concept through flight test and production. Involves CAD architecture in SolidWorks, FEA analysis, propulsion and payload integration, and supporting manufacturing, assembly and certification. Based in Bedford within BlueBear, a Saab company.

SolidWorks · CATIA · ANSYS +3

• Bedfordshire
• Senior · manages people

Provides technical leadership across mechanical and aerospace development for unmanned systems, owning complex design tasks and mentoring engineers. Leads CAD architecture, drawing release and configuration control in SolidWorks, integrates propulsion, payloads and structures, and runs FEA and design trade studies. Supports manufacturing, flight test and certification, with hands-on build and fault-finding on prototype and test hardware.

SolidWorks · CATIA · ANSYS +3

• Luton
• Hybrid
• Senior
• Permanent

Responsible for the electronic architecture of high-performance self-protection systems fitted to fast jet, UAV, land and naval platforms, working within an Integrated Project Team alongside Systems, Mechanical and Firmware engineers. Covers the full product lifecycle including qualification, design changes, obsolescence, production support and repairs, with testing of RF, microwave, digital and high-speed designs. Involves technical risk management, documentation and coaching within an international multi-partner team.

• Fareham
• Hybrid
• Lead
• Permanent

Take technical ownership of powerplant and propulsion systems for fixed-wing logistics UAVs, covering architecture, integration, testing, production support and operational reliability. Lead design of engines or motors, propellers, mounts and cooling, manage supplier relationships and define verification and validation test strategies including ground, endurance and flight testing.

Piston Engines · Electric Propulsion · Hybrid Propulsion +4

• Portsmouth
• €55,000 – €65,000 pa
• Mid-level
• Permanent

Lead the design and development of analogue and digital electronic circuits, PCB layouts and power distribution units for UAV platforms, taking ownership of electronics integration with mechanical, software and firmware systems. As the first hire for a growing electronics team, you will build and test prototypes and support designs through to manufacture.

CAN · SPI · I2C +4

• London
• £70 – £80 ph

Design, develop and integrate electrical systems for uncrewed aircraft, covering electrical architectures, power distribution, PCB layouts, cable harnesses and avionics integration. You'll work alongside mechanical, software and systems engineers across the full lifecycle, supporting ground and flight testing of autonomous air systems in a fast-paced start-up.

CAN Bus · Ethernet · Serial Interfaces

• London
• Mid-level

Designs and runs environmental stress test campaigns on drone sub-systems and ground support equipment, covering vibration, shock, thermal cycling, ingress, salt spray, altitude and fatigue testing. Works as a generalist across hardware domains in the "Physical Reality" test cluster, using strain gauges, accelerometers and DAQ systems to map failure envelopes and validate survivability.

Vibration Tables · Shock Rigs · Thermal Chambers +7

• Salisbury
• On-site
• £50,000 – £65,000 pa
• Senior
• Permanent

Deliver systems engineering outputs across the full lifecycle for complex uncrewed aircraft systems, covering requirements capture and management, system architecture, integration, verification and validation, and risk management. Work within multidisciplinary teams spanning software, electronics, mechanical, payload and platform engineering, supporting qualification and flight test activities.

UAS · Autonomy · Mission Systems +1

• Bristol
• Hybrid · 3 days in office
• Lead

Technical owner of FPGA and programmable logic design inside gimbal payloads, covering the video capture and processing chain, sensor and high-speed serial interfaces, and real-time pointing and stabilisation control. The role takes in-house payload electronics from prototype to qualified production, with short design cycles and direct ownership of logic that flies.

Altium

• Swindon
• Senior

One of the first engineers on the ground at a new UK production facility, owning assembly, integration and test processes for unmanned aircraft platforms. Spends most of the time on the shop floor as technical authority, resolving production issues, leading improvement projects and transferring build processes from Portugal into Swindon.

CAD · ERP · MES +3

• Llanbedr
• Senior

Hands-on role integrating hardware and software onto unmanned aerial systems, including sensors, actuators and control systems, and leading the design, build and test of UAS prototypes. Works with mechanical, software and systems engineers on rapid prototyping, test plans and troubleshooting, using ArduPilot, 3D printing, composites and RC piloting of VTOL and fixed-wing platforms.

ArduPilot · ROS · Lattice OS

• London
• Hybrid
• Senior

Lead the design and maintenance of high-performance C++ (C++17/20) software for complex systems, architecting scalable simulation solutions for systems of systems and real-time processing. Drive integration of third-party software and hardware, set technical standards, mentor engineers, and apply agile practices including CI and TDD. Requires deep systems-integration expertise and leadership of projects with 10+ contributors.

C++17 · C++20 · C++98 +7

• London
• Hybrid
• Senior

Design and implement real-time perception algorithms for object detection, classification and multi-target tracking, fusing EO/IR cameras, radar and IMU data. Build state estimation and localization pipelines, interpret sensor ICDs, and validate performance in simulation and flight test. Works closely with autonomy and hardware teams on SWaP-constrained airborne platforms.

PyTorch · TensorFlow · IMU +3

• London
• Senior

Own the end-to-end development of bespoke controllers for UAS platforms, from conception and simulation through physical integration and flight-test iteration. Design and validate state estimation, navigation and guidance algorithms for contested environments, working closely with flight mechanics, aerodynamics and embedded teams.

MATLAB · Simulink · Python +8

• Fareham
• On-site
• Permanent

Produces and maintains electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, cable and harness drawings, connector pinouts and BOMs using SolidWorks Electrical. Works with electrical, mechanical and manufacturing engineers to create controlled documentation for building, inspecting and testing reliable electrical assemblies across a UAV fleet. Involves CAD library upkeep, revision control and supporting prototype builds and design changes.

SolidWorks Electrical · SolidWorks 3D CAD · Microsoft Excel +3