{"id":3149352,"url":"https://alion.io/job/hylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship","title":"GNC Drone Engineer Internship","company":{"id":3778823,"name":"HyLight","domain":"hylight.aero","url":"https://alion.io/company/hylight","size_band":"11-50","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Work at a Startup","truth_index":null},"role":"Robotics","role_family":"Robotics","seniority":"intern","employment_type":"internship","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Paris, France"],"countries":["FR"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"MAVLink","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"QGroundControl","optional":false},{"name":"Simulink","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T11:37:03Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-23","last_verified_at":"2026-10-27T05:32:30Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":3,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":3},"description":"About HyLight\nPower 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.\nWe 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.\nBut 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.\nIt’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.\nWorking at HyLight\nWe design, build and fly every HyLighter, and turn its data into insight, all under one roof on a former airbase. Which means:\nYou 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.\n\nWeeks, not years. Ideas go from whiteboard to flight test in weeks.\n\nResponsibility from day one. The founders’ average age is 27. Nobody here waits for permission.\n\nWe 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.\nJob Summary:\nThis internship encompasses all subjects related to the Guidance, Navigation, and Control of our autonomous airship, the HyLighter. GNC is paramount to guaranteeing the perfect execution of our flights. Your mission is to contribute to enabling HyLight to operate pilotless airships in diverse conditions while proving their robustness to regulatory authorities. This is a high-impact internship that will involve close collaboration with the entire Technical and Regulatory teams.\nA Note from Amine (GNC Lead)\n\"We have a massive challenge ahead of us: building from scratch the reliable control systems for a completely new type of aircraft, an airship. This role requires a rare balance. You need the analytical, mathematical, and scientific depth to develop complex control laws and implement them in code, alongside a natural intuition for flight dynamics and aerodynamics. At the same time, you must remain incredibly pragmatic, with the ability to be on the ground, testing rapidly, and debugging driver or electronic issues in the field.\"\nThe Mission:\nUnder the guidance of our CTO and in collaboration with the GNC and Embedded teams, your responsibilities will include:\nModeling & Control: Understand and model airship dynamics to design and implement control and guidance laws for mission execution.\n\nRobustness & Safety: Contribute to the development of flight strategies for difficult conditions and design risk mitigation strategies for degraded modes.\n\nHardware Integration: Debug embedded systems and implement flight computers, actuators, and various types of sensors.\n\nTesting & Documentation: Define and participate in flight tests and simulations, ensuring thorough documentation of implemented models and control laws.\n\nFuture Innovation: Improve the performance of existing airships while actively participating in the design of future flight solutions.\n\nProfile Sought:\nEducation: Final-year Master's degree (or equivalent) in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering.\nExperience: Previous internship(s), research experience, academic projects, or hands-on work in Guidance, Navigation & Control, Flight Dynamics, Robotics, Aerospace, Automotive, or Autonomous Systems.\nBackground: You have worked on GNC, Flight Dynamics, or Control Systems through internships, university projects, research, student teams, or personal initiatives. Experience with drones or autonomous vehicles is a strong plus.\nThe following list of skills is exhaustive. While you may not perfectly fit the profile, we highly value personal growth and development. We see our interns as potential future team leads at HyLight.\nTechnical Skills:\nThis is an exhaustive list of sought-after skills. While you may not have experience in all of them, we're looking for strong fundamentals, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.\nSystems Mastery: Knowledge of modeling and control with exposure to Simulink and solid theoretical foundations in dynamics and automation.\n\nProgramming: Good skills in Python and C/C++, with experience using MATLAB/Simulink through coursework, research, or personal projects.\n\nEmbedded Software: Understanding of microcontrollers, actuators, drivers, and embedded software concepts, with hands-on experience through academic or personal projects.\n\nTools (Plus): Knowledge of PX4, MAVLINK, and QGroundControl (QGC) is a significant advantage.\n\nData Analysis: Able to extract insights from simulation or flight data.\n\nSoft Skills:\nEntrepreneurial Mindset: Methodical but enterprising, with strong curiosity, self-motivation, and the ability to learn quickly.\n\nProject Management: Ability to organize your work, manage priorities, and independently drive assigned tasks.\n\nCommunication: Excellent interpersonal skills to interact effectively with internal staff and external partners.\n\nEnjoys hands-on work (prototyping, setup, field testing).\n\nLanguages:\nEnglish (fluent - internal communication and documentation)\n\nWhat We Offer:\n2000 to 2500€/month compensation\n\nShareholder in HyLight upon hiring\n\n100% reimbursement of public transport pass (Navigo) or €800/year for sustainable commuting\n\nBike provided for commuting\n\nFree lunch\n\nBi-annual offsite trips with the whole team\n\nExcellent work environment: international team, team events, beautiful offices on a former airbase\n\nWhy You Should Join:\nFounder Mentality: We value extreme ownership and want people who think like founders-fast decision makers, natural problem solvers, and executers.\n\nGround Floor Opportunity: You’ll be helping to shape and grow a revolutionary company with the resources to back it.\n\nImpact & Speed: Work in a fast-paced environment where your contributions will have immediate, tangible effects on the company’s success.\n\nInterview Process:\nIntroductory phone call (20 min)\n\nA 1-hour technical case study followed by a debrief with team members\n\nOn-site meeting with the team (1h)\n\nLocation:\nOffice: Base 217, Brétigny-sur-Orge, accessible via RER C.\nLab and Warehouse access\nYou’ll work side-by-side with experts in embedded, aerospace, and hydrogen propulsion systems-where your impact matters from day one","description_format":"text","description_chars":6674,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"Advanced (C1)","optional":false}]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Drones & UAVs","Artificial Intelligence","Drone AI"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-23T11:37:03Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":3,"expected_fill_days":60,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:early","comp:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-27T05:46:45Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/hylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/hylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-27T09:52:48Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":11245,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-28T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3778823},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3778823"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fhylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fhylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fhylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/hylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fhylight-gnc-drone-engineer-internship"}]}