Embedded Software Internship

About HyLight

Power lines, gas pipelines and railways are still inspected the way they were 50 years ago: by helicopter. Expensive, noisy, and up to a tonne of CO₂ per flight hour.

We built the alternative. The HyLighter is a 12-metre autonomous airship running on hydrogen. It flies for up to 10 hours, almost silently, and spots a 1 mm defect from 25 metres up.

But the airship is only half the story. Every flight brings back massive amounts of LiDAR, imagery and methane data, and that’s where the value is. Our AI turns it into what operators act on: 50+ types of defects detected automatically, and leaks pinpointed across their network.

It’s not a prototype. HyLighters already fly missions for France’s largest energy and rail operators and have flown over the Palace of Versailles. Backed by Y Combinator, we just raised €13M to go from 4 airships to 15.

Working at HyLight

We design, build and fly every HyLighter, and turn its data into insight, all under one roof on a former airbase. Which means:

• You own it all the way. At a big aerospace company, you’d own a small piece of one subsystem. Here, you design it, test it, stand on the airfield when it flies, and see the client act on the data it brings back.

• Weeks, not years. Ideas go from whiteboard to flight test in weeks.

• Responsibility from day one. The founders’ average age is 27. Nobody here waits for permission.

We don’t care about titles or ticking every box. We care about what you build and the perspective you bring, so if your profile is different, apply anyway.

Job Summary

You'll contribute to the software architecture of the HyLighter, our next-generation autonomous airship for aerial inspection and environmental monitoring. This is a software-first embedded internship: you will develop your embedded skills while contributing to architecture, code quality, and the tooling that allows a team to ship reliable flight software fast.

You will work on drone open-source software such as PX4 and QGroundControl (QGC), and contribute to defining how our onboard and ground software is structured, built, tested, and deployed. A key part of the mission is to help design clean abstractions over our hardware so that a HyLighter can be driven as a single, coherent machine, while contributing to the CI/CD and continuous-development practices that make the architecture maintainable as we scale.

Mission

Under the guidance of the CTO and Embedded team, you will:

• Contribute to software architecture: Help design and improve the architecture of our embedded systems (onboard and ground), with clean interfaces and modularity that make the system easy to extend and test.

• Develop hardware abstraction layers: Contribute to designing abstractions that allow us to control sensors, actuators, and subsystems as one machine, decoupling application logic from underlying hardware.

• Improve CI/CD and continuous development: Support the implementation of pipelines, automated tests, build/release tooling, and workflows that allow the team to develop and deploy with confidence.

• Work with PX4: Extend and integrate PX4-based flight software and the QGC ground station to fit the HyLighter's needs.

• Enhance robustness and reliability: Contribute to improving existing avionics and embedded software through testing, debugging, and development.

• Drive technical studies: Participate in system architecture studies for future features (steerable airships, advanced testing facilities, new onboard systems) and payload integration/data-capture automation.

Personal Note from Josef (CTO)

"This role is the backbone of how we build software at HyLight. We have flight code, ground tools, test benches and custom machines, and we need someone who can bring real architecture to all of it and the CI/CD discipline that keeps it reliable as we grow. If you love designing clean systems, working close to the hardware through PX4, and building the pipelines that let a team move fast without breaking things, this is your spot. The team is still small (around 18 people), so your architecture decisions will have immediate, visible impact."

Profile Sought

The following skills are not all mandatory. If you don't match everything but are motivated to grow, we want to meet you. We see this internship as a potential path toward future technical leadership positions at HyLight.

Education: Final-year Master's degree (or equivalent) in Embedded Systems, Software Engineering, Electronics, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.

Experience: Previous internship(s), academic projects, research experience, or personal projects involving embedded development, software architecture, robotics, drones, or autonomous systems.

CI/CD: Exposure to continuous integration / continuous deployment workflows through academic projects, personal projects, or previous internships (pipelines, automated testing, build and release processes).

PX4 / drones: Experience with PX4, MAVLink, and QGroundControl is a strong advantage, ideally through academic projects, student teams, research, or personal projects.

The following skills are not all mandatory. While you may not perfectly fit the profile, we highly value curiosity, personal growth, and development. We see our interns as potential future technical leaders at HyLight.

Technical Skills

• Architecture: Understanding of software architecture and system design principles for embedded platforms; interest in hardware abstraction layers, modular design, and testable interfaces.

• CI/CD & tooling: Familiarity with Git/GitHub, CI/CD systems (e.g. GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or equivalent), containerization (Docker), automated testing, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.

• Programming: Strong foundations in C/C++ and Python, with good development practices (versioning, code review, testing).

• Embedded foundations: Understanding of microcontrollers (STM32, ESP32, Pixhawk), SBCs (Raspberry Pi or equivalent), and RTOS concepts.

• Communication protocols: Knowledge of UART, CAN, I2C, SPI, PWM, RS485 is a plus.

• Tools: Exposure to PX4, QGroundControl, and hardware debugging tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers) is a plus.

Soft Skills

• Autonomous and hands-on approach to project execution, with an interest in understanding the whole system.

• Strong interest in UAVs, drones, or aerial robotics.

• Curious, eager to learn, and passionate about building clean and reliable systems.

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary team.

Languages

English and French (preferably).

Bonus Qualities

• Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset.

• Proactive in proposing innovative software/hardware architecture solutions.

• Able to organize your work, track progress, and anticipate challenges.

• Prior personal or academic projects in robotics or UAVs (feel free to link them in your CV).

What We Offer

• 2000 to 2500€/month compensation

• Real responsibility and direct impact on cutting-edge autonomous flight technology

• 100% reimbursement of public transport pass (Navigo) or €800/year for sustainable commuting

• Bike provided for commuting

• Free lunch

• Bi-annual offsite trips with the whole team

• Excellent work environment: international team, team events, beautiful offices on a former airbase

Why You Should Join

• Founder mentality: We value extreme ownership and want people who think like founders: fast decision makers, natural problem solvers, and executers.

• Ground floor opportunity: You'll help shape and grow a revolutionary company with the resources to back it.

• Impact & speed: A fast-paced environment where your contributions have immediate, tangible effects on the company's success.

Interview Process

• Introductory phone call (20-30 min)

• Technical case study followed by a debrief with a team member

• On-site meeting with the team (3-4h)

• Reference calls

Location

Office: Base 217, Brétigny-sur-Orge, accessible via RER C

Lab and Warehouse access

You'll work side-by-side with experts in embedded, aerospace, and hydrogen propulsion systems, where your impact matters from day one.