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

• Bedford

Owns aircraft conceptual sizing and constraint analysis for new UAV concepts, turning requirements and CONOPS into sized, analysed and testable air vehicle designs through rapid trade studies. Builds and maintains the concept-design toolchain (geometry, aero, mission, surrogate and data-processing tools) and synthesises flight-test and telemetry data to validate and calibrate models. Works within a small multidisciplinary team in the Blue Bear business unit.

OpenVSP · RCAIDE · AVL +7

• Salisbury
• On-site
• £50,000 – £60,000 pa
• Mid-level
• Permanent

Develops, configures and tests Ardupilot-based flight control systems for UAV platforms, tuning flight behaviours in SITL and live flight, and integrating sensors such as GPS, cameras and LiDAR. Works within the Autopilot team on requirements capture, architectural design, peer reviews and documentation, using C++ and protocols including MAVLink, CAN, SPI, I2C, UDP and TCP.

Ardupilot · PX4 · MAVLink +7

• Salisbury
• On-site
• £40,000 – £50,000 pa
• Mid-level
• Permanent

Design, develop, integrate and verify electronic hardware and systems for unmanned aerial vehicles, covering analogue, digital and mixed-signal circuitry, PCB/PCBA design, interfaces, sensors and test equipment across the full engineering lifecycle. Works alongside Systems, Software, Air Vehicle, Avionics, Test and Manufacturing teams, with emphasis on DfM, DfA, DfT and qualification for production.

UAV · Avionics · Sensors +1

• Bedford

Work within the Air Combat Simulation team on modelling and simulation of aircraft, UAVs and associated systems, building Simulink models and analysis tools, auto-coding to C/C++ and DLLs, and integrating models into system-of-systems and distributed simulations. The role covers validation and verification, results analysis, and documentation for the Blue Bear UAV business unit.

MATLAB · Simulink · Stateflow +7

• Bedford
• Mid-level

Day-to-day CAD design and multidisciplinary engineering across aerospace development projects, from requirements and concept through manufacture, integration and test. Involves SolidWorks modelling, DFMEA and risk documentation, material selection for composite and metallic components, and payload/propulsion integration including all-electric and eVTOL applications, with some UK travel.

SolidWorks

• Farnborough
• On-site
• Entry level

A two-year graduate programme rotating through four six-month placements in Saab UK's Sensor Systems Radar business, working hands-on with 3D radar technology at the Farnborough office. Graduates rotate as a cohort, build experience across core engineering disciplines, and may convert to a permanent role based on performance and business needs.

MS Office Suite

• 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

• Bedford
• Lead · manages people

Lead the electronics design and prototyping department for a UAV business, guiding a team of 10+ electronic engineers across multiple programmes. Own full hardware design lifecycles from requirements capture to production release, covering digital, mixed-signal, FPGA and high-reliability systems, with expert review of schematics, PCB layouts and design documentation. Work cross-functionally with systems, software, mechanical and test teams, and support bids and cost estimation.

FPGA · PCB

• Oakley
• Hybrid
• Mid-level
• Permanent

Support the Head of Engineering on multidisciplinary design challenges for unmanned systems, performing day-to-day CAD work, managing design requirements, and contributing to integration, verification and testing across aerospace development projects. Involves material selection for composite and metallic components, payload and propulsion integration including eVTOL applications, and preparing documentation such as DFMEAs and risk assessments.

SolidWorks

• Bedford
• Senior

Technical owner of new UAV concepts, turning customer requirements and CONOPS into sized, analysed and flight-tested air vehicles while running several concept studies in parallel. Leads conceptual sizing and trade studies across aerodynamics, weights, propulsion, mission and stability, and closes the loop between analysis and reality by calibrating sizing methods with bench, wind-tunnel and flight-test data. Also develops the team's Python-based concept-design tools and helps develop junior engineers.

OpenVSP · AVL · XFLR5 +6

• Salisbury
• On-site
• £65,000 – £75,000 pa
• Lead
• Permanent

Deliver avionics systems engineering across navigation, power, communication, payloads, aircraft management and C2 systems for unmanned air systems, providing technical leadership over design, development and integration. The role involves supervising other engineers, improving internal processes, and supporting airworthiness, safety and certification requirements within a multi-disciplined team.

Altium · SolidWorks · MATLAB +2