Position Summary
SPiDRWORX is looking for a hands-on Embedded Systems & Autonomy Engineer to join our Advanced Product Development & Integration team developing multi-domain unmanned systems (UxS) across air, ground, and maritime environments. The team rapidly evaluates emerging technologies, builds new capabilities, and transitions successful concepts toward fielded products for defense customers.
In this role, you will work where hardware meets software and where software meets decision-making: bringing up embedded electronics, developing and modifying firmware, integrating vehicle-control stacks and onboard computers, and building or integrating the autonomy behaviors, navigation, and mission-planning software that let unmanned systems operate with reduced human oversight — including in GPS-denied or communications-degraded environments. You will work closely with electrical, mechanical, RF/datalink, autonomy, test, and manufacturing engineers and will support bench and field testing across multiple vehicle domains.
This role is a strong fit for an engineer who is equally comfortable with a logic analyzer, a code editor, and an autonomy stack; enjoys debugging complex hardware/software interactions; and wants to see their code making real decisions on real vehicles in the field.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Research & Embedded Architecture
- Evaluate microcontrollers, compute platforms, sensors, autopilots, software frameworks, and partner technologies through hands-on testing and rapid prototyping.
- Build proof-of-concept integrations to validate new capabilities and customer requirements before full development.
- Support architecture and trade studies considering compute performance, latency, size, weight, power, cost, software maturity, and integration risk.
Firmware Development & Hardware Bring-Up
- Develop and maintain C/C++ firmware for vehicle controllers, payload electronics, motor-control interfaces, and custom embedded boards.
- Work in bare-metal and RTOS environments on microcontrollers such as ARM Cortex-M/STM32.
- Bring up new hardware, including power and clock validation, boot configuration, peripheral setup, communications interfaces, and low-level drivers.
- Develop and integrate drivers for sensors and peripherals such as IMUs, GNSS/INS, cameras, gimbals, rangefinders, radar, and LiDAR.
Vehicle Software & Compute Integration
- Configure, modify, and extend vehicle-control software such as Betaflight, ArduPilot, and PX4 for FPV, multirotor, fixed-wing, ground, and maritime platforms.
- Integrate embedded Linux computers, including NVIDIA Jetson and similar edge-compute platforms, with vehicle controllers, cameras, sensors, payloads, and autonomy applications.
- Develop system interfaces using MAVLink, ROS 2, DroneCAN, uORB, or custom messaging and APIs.
- Integrate third-party sensors, payloads, and customer-requested capabilities at the firmware and vehicle-software layers.
- Integrate autonomy stacks and behavior-execution frameworks (e.g., ROS 2 nodes, behavior trees, or custom mission-planning software) with vehicle controllers and onboard compute.
Autonomy Software & Behaviors
- Develop and integrate autonomy software for navigation, path/motion planning, obstacle avoidance, and mission execution across single- and multi-vehicle scenarios.
- Implement or integrate state estimation and sensor fusion (EKF/UKF, GNSS/INS, visual-inertial odometry) to support reliable navigation in GPS-denied or degraded environments.
- Support multi-agent/swarm coordination behaviors, including task allocation, formation control, and collaborative mission planning across teamed unmanned systems.
- Combine classical autonomy techniques with machine-learning components (e.g., perception, reinforcement learning) to improve robustness and adaptability of vehicle behaviors.
- Build and maintain simulation and hardware-in-the-loop environments to develop, regression-test, and verify autonomy behaviors before field deployment.
- Analyze flight/mission logs to diagnose autonomy failures, tune behavior parameters, and drive continuous improvement of planning and decision-making software.
Networking, Video & Datalink Interfaces
- Develop and integrate software/network interfaces for command and control, telemetry, video, and data services over vehicle datalinks.
- Troubleshoot latency, packet loss, connectivity, addressing, routing, streaming, and application-level link behavior.
- Partner with RF/datalink and electrical engineers on radio integration while owning the embedded software, network, and protocol interfaces.
Verification, Troubleshooting & Productization
- Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop test environments where practical.
- Support bench, flight, ground, and on-water testing, including test preparation, log review, data analysis, and post-test troubleshooting.
- Debug issues that cross firmware, operating systems, networking, and hardware, particularly failures that appear only under real-world conditions.
- Develop Python scripts and engineering tools for testing, log analysis, automation, and manufacturing support.
- Support firmware releases, configuration control, code/design reviews, manufacturing test tools, customer demonstrations, and field test events.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 2+ years of embedded development experience on physical hardware, preferably for unmanned systems, robotics, aerospace, marine, automotive, or defense applications.
- Strong programming skills in C and C++.
- Experience with ARM Cortex-M/STM32 or similar microcontrollers and bare-metal or RTOS development such as FreeRTOS, ChibiOS, NuttX, or equivalent.
- Hands-on experience with embedded interfaces and networking, including I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, and Ethernet.
- Ability to read schematics and debug hardware/software interfaces using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD tools.
- Proficiency with Git and Linux-based development environments.
- Strong systems-level debugging, problem-solving, and technical communication skills.
- Exposure to autonomy, robotics, or navigation software (e.g., state estimation, path planning, behavior/mission-execution frameworks), whether through coursework, research, or hands-on projects.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance, as required by program.
Additional Desired Qualifications
- Experience working in Betaflight, ArduPilot, PX4, or similar vehicle-control codebases.
- Familiarity with MAVLink, uORB, DroneCAN, and ground-control software such as QGroundControl or Mission Planner.
- Embedded Linux experience on Jetson or similar platforms, including Yocto, device trees, kernel drivers, and system services.
- Experience with video capture, encoding, and streaming tools such as GStreamer.
- Experience with ROS 2 or integrating autonomy, perception, or computer-vision software onto vehicle hardware.
- Understanding of vehicle control loops, estimation, EKF/sensor fusion, and navigation interfaces.
- Exposure to GPS-denied navigation, resilient communications, edge AI, or counter-UAS technologies.
- Experience with multi-domain UxS, including UAS, UGV, USV, or other robotic vehicle platforms.
- Military or operational experience with unmanned systems, or hands-on experience building, tuning, and operating FPV/UxS platforms.
- Experience with multi-agent or swarm autonomy, collaborative mission planning, or crewed/uncrewed teaming.
- Familiarity with open-source robotics tooling such as ROS/ROS 2, OMPL, or similar planning and simulation frameworks.
- Experience with requirements-based verification, hardware-in-the-loop test infrastructure, or configuration-controlled software releases for safety- or mission-critical systems.
- Active or current eligibility for a U.S. Secret or Top Secret security clearance.
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, or willingness to obtain one.
Physical Requirements and Working Conditions
- Ability to work outdoors at test ranges, vehicle test areas, docks, and aboard small vessels in varying weather conditions.
- Ability to lift and carry equipment weighing up to 40 lbs.
- Regular work around lithium batteries, high-current electrical systems, rotating machinery/propellers, moving vehicles, and RF equipment while following required safety procedures and PPE requirements.
- Ability to stand, kneel, crouch, and work in tight spaces during vehicle integration and testing.
- Travel of approximately 25% for field testing, demonstrations, and customer events.
- Occasional extended hours or weekend work to support test events.
Background Check
This position requires successful completion of a post-offer background check. A criminal history does not automatically disqualify a candidate. Each case is reviewed in line with applicable federal and state law.
EEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure
Red Cat is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
This position involves access to technology and technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Candidates must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and must not require sponsorship for export-controlled work.
E-Verify
Red Cat participates in E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility.