54 jobs for “autonomy engineer”
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.
Shield AI London
Integrates autonomy software onto unmanned aircraft, owning pre-flight build, configuration and validation across onboard compute, sensors and control interfaces. Supports live flight tests with travel around 30-40% of the year, debugging embedded and real-time systems in lab and field, and analysing flight data with autonomy and GNC teams.
Shield AI London
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.
QinetiQ Farnborough £47,250 – £52,500 pa
Designs, develops and delivers autonomy and control software for complex military aviation systems, covering algorithm development, modelling and simulation of uncrewed systems. Owns technical work packages and supports hardware integration, testing and formally assessed trials in the UK and overseas, working with C, ideally C++, and Matlab alongside multidisciplinary teams.
Helsing Tallinn, Estonia
Build and maintain the internals of a large-scale 3D simulation platform used to train and test autonomy before it touches real hardware. Work spans subsystem architecture, replication and multiplayer, performance profiling, sensor and environment modelling, and physics such as flight dynamics and collision. Involves integrating models from domain experts and balancing fidelity against throughput.
Anduril Llanbedr
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.
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 London
Senior technical authority for a flagship aerospace and defence programme, owning the technical strategy, system architecture and engineering governance from concept through testing and certification. Leads a multidisciplinary team spanning systems, software, electronics, mechanical design, integration and test, acting as the primary technical interface with customers, suppliers and investors in a fast-moving start-up.
Helsing Berlin, Germany
Build and scale a GPU-based simulator that trains reinforcement-learning agents for air autonomy, modelling flight dynamics and sensing across thousands of parallel environments. Work spans sim-to-real transfer, domain randomisation and RL training tooling, at the intersection of AI, GPU computing and physics-based simulation, with room to grow into leadership.
Anduril Llanbedr
Supports test planning, execution and reporting of flight test activities on uncrewed fixed-wing and multi-rotor aircraft, including data analysis and software/integration testing in simulated and field environments. Works with engineers and operators across the UK on Group 2/3 surrogate UAS, coordinating test ranges and external agencies under senior guidance.
Rise Technical Recruitment Witney £50,000 – £60,000 pa
Defines verification strategies and develops test frameworks for safety-critical embedded software, delivering requirements-based V&V, traceability and certification evidence. Applies automated testing, fuzz testing, fault injection and Monte Carlo simulation, with exposure to SPARK Ada and formal methods in an autonomy-assurance team. Hybrid, minimum three days on-site in Witney.
Rise Technical Recruitment Witney £50,000 – £60,000 pa
Define verification strategies and build test frameworks for safety-critical embedded software used in flight-critical control and mission-assurance systems. Work spans requirements-based V&V, traceability, certification evidence and advanced techniques such as automated testing, fuzz testing, fault injection and Monte Carlo simulation, with three days a week on-site in Witney.
Tekever Bristol
Develops and maintains software running onboard TEKEVER-designed UAVs, covering autopilots, the autonomy stack, payloads and other software-enabled subsystems. Works within a team on embedded C++/Rust code, real-time systems and simulation-based testing, supporting field trials at West Wales airport and international sites.
Leonardo Luton
Designs and develops microwave and RF circuits operating to and beyond 20 GHz for electronic warfare self-protection systems on fast jet, UAV, land and naval platforms. Work spans prototyping, detailed design, simulation with tools like ADS, CST and HFSS, plus hands-on RF test, measurement and debug in laboratory facilities within an Integrated Project Team.
Leonardo Luton
Design and develop microwave and RF circuits operating to and beyond 20 GHz for electronic warfare self-protection systems, covering concept, requirements, detailed design, integration and test. Use EM and circuit simulation tools, hands-on RF test equipment and debug, while providing technical leadership and mentoring within an integrated project team.
