Drone Jobs

• Oakley
• 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 uses bench, wind-tunnel and flight-test data to calibrate sizing models. Also develops the team's Python-based concept-design tools and mentors junior engineers.

OpenVSP · AVL · XFLR5 +6

• 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

• London
• Hybrid
• Senior

Integrate autonomy software onto unmanned aircraft, owning build, configuration and validation of flight-ready systems across onboard compute, sensors and control interfaces. Support live flight tests with travel around 30-40% of the year, debugging embedded and autonomy stacks in lab and field, capturing and analysing flight data, and working with autonomy, GNC and test teams.

ROS · DDS · Hivemind +5

• London
• Hybrid
• Lead

Owns the full sales lifecycle for V-BAT ISR UAS and Hivemind mission autonomy capabilities across UK defence and government accounts, focusing on urgent operational requirements and non-standard acquisition pathways. Involves shaping requirements at source, building trusted relationships with special mission communities and programme offices, and leading proposals with cross-functional teams.

Hivemind · V-BAT · X-BAT +1

• Swindon
• Hybrid · 3 days in office

Manufacture and test PCBs, wiring harnesses and electro-mechanical sub-assemblies, including box-build integration, firmware loading and fault diagnosis. Uses multimeters, power supplies and oscilloscopes to verify product quality, and maintains work instructions and SOPs within a multidisciplinary production team.

Multimeters · Oscilloscopes · Power Supplies

• 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

• London

Owns the multimodal perception front-end end to end, architecting a stack that fuses EO and LWIR cameras, radar, LiDAR and IMUs into a coherent input for AI. Defines sensor selection, synchronisation (PTP/gPTP, PPS, hardware triggers), intrinsic/extrinsic calibration and safety concepts, working hands-on in the lab with hardware, electrical and computer-vision teams. Systems go into operational defence environments rather than prototypes.

LiDAR · Radar · IMU +7

• 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

• London

Shape the system architecture, requirements and certification evidence for a jet-powered interceptor within an air defence system. Day to day you elicit stakeholder needs, maintain a JAMA requirements baseline, run trade studies and MBSE architecture work, own interface control documents and coordinate safety and certification activities.

JAMA

• London
• Mid-level

Bridges product engineering and deployed operations for the Altius program, executing flight operations, field maintenance and customer training. Deploys to austere locations to troubleshoot hardware, software and networking issues, run root-cause analyses and shape long-term sustainment of aerial systems.

Linux · Unix · JIRA +2

• .
• Hybrid
• Permanent

Operates UAVs globally, conducting pre-flight checks, flight operations, data collection, and routine maintenance while ensuring compliance with aviation regulations. When not on operations, supports the wider Flight Operations team and is expected to become an instructor, requiring teaching and leadership abilities. Involves travel, work outside normal hours, and coordination with ground crews and air traffic control.

MS Excel

• Llanbedr

Operate Anduril UK's uncrewed air systems as a CAA Authorised UAS Pilot, planning and executing VLOS and BVLOS missions in the Specific Category. Act as Safety Pilot on fixed-wing and VTOL platforms, manage Pixhawk and Cube Orange flight controllers, and produce SORA risk assessments and flight documentation alongside engineering and flight test teams.

Pixhawk · Cube Orange · Lattice OS +4

• 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.

• Bristol
• On-site
• £60,000 – £70,000 pa
• Senior · manages people
• Permanent

Lead software project teams developing flight control and autopilot simulation software, using model-based design in MATLAB and Simulink. Responsibilities span flight dynamics modelling, flight performance studies, requirements definition, code and model review, and testing, while coaching team members and supporting project scoping and estimation.

MATLAB · Simulink

• 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