Automation Engineer

About Aerospacelab

Our mission is supported by an ambitious vertically integrated approach: design & manufacture of small satellites combined with development of earth observation services.

Since its creation in 2018, the company has already grown substantially. Our team gathers more than 25 engineering expertise, from hardware design to software development & data science.

In 2026, Aerospacelab counts offices in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), Toulouse (France), Lausanne (Switzerland) and US West Coast with more than 450 full-time employees, with the ambition to position itself as the European leader in small satellites.

Your role

Aerospacelab is looking for an Automation& Robotics Engineer to join our production engineering team. You willdesign, integrate, and maintain automated production and inspection cellscombining industrial controls, machine vision, and robotic manipulation – fromPLC/motion architecture down to the Python tooling that ties it all together.This is a hands-on, purely technical role with no people-managementresponsibilities, working closely with production, quality, and R&D teamsto bring flexible, high-reliability automation to our satellite manufacturinglines.

Key responsibilities

• Design and develop automatedproduction and inspection cells: mechanical/electrical integration, controlsarchitecture, and software.
• Program and commissionPLC/motion controllers (Beckhoff/TwinCAT or equivalent) and fieldbus networks(EtherCAT, Modbus, OPC UA).
• Develop and deploy machinevision pipelines (camera synchronization, calibration, defect/dimensionalinspection) using tools such as HALCON or equivalent frameworks.
• Integrate industrial robots(e.g. Universal Robots) into production workflows, including tooling, pathplanning, and safety.
• Write production-grade Pythonsoftware for equipment orchestration, data acquisition, and process monitoring,running across Windows and Linux.
• Diagnose and resolveintegration issues across the full stack – controls, vision, robotics, andsoftware – on live production lines.
• Document architectures andshare knowledge within the automation community of practice.

Must have

• Master’s degree inelectromechanical, mechatronics, automation, or a related engineering field, orequivalent hands-on experience.
• Around 5 years of relevanthands-on experience in industrial automation, robotics, or productionengineering (medior level).
• Solid hands-on experience withindustrial controls (PLC programming, fieldbus/industrial protocols) in aproduction environment.
• Strong Python skills applied toindustrial/automation software (not a beginner level).
• Practical experienceintegrating industrial robots (UR or equivalent) into real production or labsetups.
• Comfortable working acrossWindows and Linux, with version control (Git) as part of the daily workflow.
• Problem-solver with a hands-onmentality, comfortable moving between low-level hardware debugging and softwaredesign.
• Fluent in English; Frenchand/or Dutch are a plus.

Nice to have

• Experience with machine visionlibraries (HALCON, OpenCV) and industrial camera SDKs (e.g. GenICam-basedcameras).
• Exposure to ROS/ROS2,containerized deployments (Docker), or CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience in an aerospace,space, or other highly regulated manufacturing environment.

What we offer

Build your own career path

Direct impact on the growth of the company

Fast-paced environment

Flexible ways of working

Salary package consistent with your experience