Location: Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
Education: A Graduate in Aerospace, Mechanical, Mechatronics Engineering, or a related technical field.
Gender: Any
Role Overview:
As a Research and Development Engineer Prototyping and Flight Testing, you will be actively involved in the assembly, modification, testing, and flight validation of UAV prototypes. This role combines practical workshop-based work with flight field operations, ensuring that designs are physically realized, integrated, and flight-verified.
Key Responsibilities:
- Assemble, integrate, and modify prototype UAVs in the workshop, including fabrication, fitting, and repair of airframe components.
- Support mechanical fabrication tasks such as composite work, CNC, 3D printing, wiring, soldering, and harness assembly.
- Plan and execute flight test campaigns for fixed-wing UAVs >25kg, including mission prep, field testing, and pilot operation (manual and autonomous).
- Tune flight parameters (e.g., PID, failsafes, airspeeds) and configure autopilots (e.g., PX4, ArduPilot).
- Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, firmware, and GCS teams for rapid problem-solving.
- Maintain a clean, organized workshop and field-ready UAV inventory.
- Contribute to SOPs and documentation for integration and test processes.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Mechatronics Engineering, or a related technical field.
- At least 5 years of experience in UAV prototyping, flight testing, and workshop-based fabrication.
- Demonstrated experience flying and tuning fixed-wing UAVs above 25kg MTOW, with a minimum of 200 flight hours under the belt.
- Practical skills in airframe assembly, composite work, soldering, cabling, and mechanical integration.
- Familiarity with PX4 and/or ArduPilot, including autopilot tuning and calibration.
- Experience with various RC systems, different types of propulsion (turbojet experience highly desirable).
- Strong safety awareness and risk assessment capability during workshop and field testing.
- Willingness to travel and work in outdoor field environments for flight test campaigns.
