{"id":1891898,"url":"https://alion.io/job/impact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software","title":"Founding Engineer, Robotics and Flight Software","company":{"id":3779986,"name":"IMPACT Drones","domain":"impact-drones.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/impact-drones","size_band":"501-1000","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":"middle","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":140000,"max":180000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":180000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Rust","optional":false},{"name":"ArduPilot","optional":true},{"name":"Betaflight","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-05T05:35:46Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-05","last_verified_at":"2026-10-06T23:49:09Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"We are Jasper and Alessandro, the founders of Impact Drones (YC S26). We are hiring our founding engineer: the person who owns the software that decides, launches and guides an interceptor when a hostile drone comes for a data center, a refinery, an airport or a power grid.\nIn March 2026, Iranian drones struck three AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain. Fiber-optic FPV drones cannot be jammed. The only thing that stops them is a physical intercept. That is what we build.\nAbout Impact Drones\nWe sell Air Defense as a Service to civilian critical infrastructure. One container on site senses, decides and launches our interceptors: HUNTER, a kinetic quadcopter in combat in Ukraine against Shahed-class drones; WEAVER, which catches drones intact in a net; and SABLE, our turbojet interceptor. We integrate radars and own the software. First LOIs signed with defense and data-center customers.\nWhat you will own\nOur response software: the path from a radar track to an interceptor in the air.\nFlight software on HUNTER and WEAVER.\nContainer integration: sensors, launch bays and the operator screen.\nField testing at the range, and the call on what is ready to fly.\nHiring and leading the next engineers.\nWhat you bring\nSoftware you shipped onto real hardware that flew, not only in simulation.\nStrong C++ (or Rust) on embedded or real-time systems, plus Python.\nDepth in flight software, robotics or embedded systems.\nField tests you ran yourself, and the fixes that came out of them.\nBonus points\nYou fly FPV or build quads, and have worked in PX4, ArduPilot or Betaflight.\nCounter-UAS, defense or aerospace experience.\nYou have hired and led engineers.\nCompensation\nBase salary: $140,000 to $180,000 per year.\nEquity: 0.5% to 1.25%, 4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff.\nWhere we work\nOn-site in San Francisco, CA, with regular field testing at outdoor ranges.\nHow to apply\nApply here on Work at a Startup. Put one line at the top of your resume: the hardest thing you built that flew, with a link (repo, video or flight log). We read every application ourselves.\nJasper and Alessandro\nThis role may involve technical data subject to U.S. export controls (ITAR and EAR). Applicants must be U.S. persons or eligible for any required export authorization.\nImpact Drones is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in line with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.","description_format":"text","description_chars":2430,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"},{"name":"Ukraine","iso":"UA","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Military","Air Defense"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-05T05:35:46Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":30,"reasons":["conf:0","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-06T05:45:30Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":180000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/impact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/impact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-07T00:28:36Z","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","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":784,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":4216,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-08T00:00:00Z"}},"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":3779986},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3779986"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fimpact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software"},{"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%2Fimpact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software"},{"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%2Fimpact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software"},{"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/impact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fimpact-drones-founding-engineer-robotics-and-flight-software"}]}