Autonomous Drone Software Engineer – Swarm Systems

Your mission
Connect third-party autopilots and sensors to our robotics stack and make the ROS 2 MAVLink PX4/ArduPilot command/telemetry loops rock-solid in the field. This is a middleware & interfaces role: build the bridges, prove reliability, and ship to hardware, beyond lab demos.

• ROS 2 MAVLink bridges in production (heartbeats, params, missions, telemetry) with latency/jitter within budget, controlled packet loss, metrics and alerts in place. Measure: traces, dashboards, field endurance tests.
• Sensor integration (GNSS/IMU/camera/LiDAR/radar): acquisition, time sync, correct frames, clean interfaces to the autopilot and our ROS nodes. Measure: bag replays, end-to-end validation.
• Embedded deployment (Jetson/ARM): reproducible CI/CD images, versioned releases, rollbacks, watchdogs, health checks. Measure: crash rate, MTTR, stable field runs.

Responsibilities

• Write/maintain ROS 2 nodes for sensor drivers, message transforms, and PX4/ArduPilot interfaces.
• Implement MAVLink flows (HEARTBEAT, PARAM, MISSION, ATTITUDE/IMU, failsafes), manage routing and custom messages where needed.
• Own operational reliability: DDS QoS, retries, heartbeats, watchdogs, link loss recovery, structured logging and tracing.
• Drive Git-centric delivery (PRs/reviews/tags), packaging with colcon/containers, deployment scripts, and bag replays for integration tests.
• Conduct weekly to biweekly field tests with live hardware. Validate software changes under operational conditions, debug in the field, and iterate based on flight performance data.

Your profile
Must-Haves

• ROS 2 and strong C++17/20 for production code.
• PX4 or ArduPilot experience (modes, params, mixers; SITL/HITL familiarity).
• MAVLinkexpertise (mission/param/telemetry protocols, routing).
• Solid Git workflow and an integration mindset (this is not a research/algorithms role).
• Evidence of shipping to hardware/field on Jetson/ARM and resolving issues under real conditions.

Nice-to-Haves

• Time sync (PTP/NTP), DDS QoS tuning, CPU pinning/cgroups/RT-preempt, basic security hardening and health monitoring.
• Implement encrypted telemetry and authenticated command links using cryptographic libraries.
• Apply secure boot, update mechanisms, and embedded Linux hardening to meet defense-grade security requirements.
• Multi-agent coordination, inter-drone communication experience.
• Basic CI/CD literacy sufficient to push container images and trigger builds.

Why us?
Do you feel that you fit the description, but don't think you fulfill all the criteria 100%? Apply to us anyway.

We look forward to receiving your detailed application via our online form.

The world is changing. Exponential technologies are enabling new types of security threats. We are committed to staying ahead by building nimble, scalable, and cost-effective defences. We are looking for passionate developers who are eager to create exceptional products, safeguard our freedom, and strengthen the resilience of democracies.

About Us
We are a defence-tech start-up specializing in machine vision solutions. If you have a passion for cutting-edge innovation, and drive to use your skills to create next generation solutions, this is an opportunity for you

What we do:
We are developing solutions that enable computers and sensors to collaborate as teams, working together to address emerging security challenges. Our primary mission is to defend against AI-powered asymmetric threats at scale, such as drone swarms and other UXVs.

Who we are:
Based in Munich, Berlin and Bordeaux/Toulouse we are rapidly expanding across Europe with plans to open more office hubs soon. We embrace a hybrid work culture - valuing the collaborations that happens in the office, while also empowering our team members to work remotely with responsibility and autonomy.