{"id":1891897,"url":"https://alion.io/job/impact-drones-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas","title":"Integration Engineer, Radar and Drone Software (Counter-UAS)","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":"junior","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":100000,"max":150000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":150000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":1,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"ArduPilot","optional":false},{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"Betaflight","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"MAVLink","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Sensor Fusion","optional":false},{"name":"TCP/IP","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-05T05:35:46Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-22","last_verified_at":"2026-10-22T16:07:50Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":17,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":17},"description":"We are Jasper and Alessandro, the founders of Impact Drones (YC S26). Jasper, an aerospace engineer (MSc, TU Delft), has built drones for over a decade, including the Hannover Messe VTOL competition winner, and worked with special forces on the 2025 NATO Summit counter-drone plan; Alessandro (MSc, Columbia) built the pipeline behind our 180M+ USD in signed LOIs.\nWe are hiring an integration engineer to connect radars and drones into one system. We do not build radars: we use the best ones, plus whatever a customer already runs, and own the software that turns a radar track into an interceptor launch.\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.\nWhat you will own\nIntegrating third-party radars, RF detectors and EO/IR cameras.\nFusing their tracks into one air picture.\nConnecting our drones (PX4, ArduPilot, Betaflight, MAVLink) and customer command-and-control systems.\nTest rigs and range tests that prove the chain from detection to launch.\nYour first 3 months\nMonth one: a third-party radar streams live tracks into our response software, time-synced and in the right frame.\nMonth two: radar and camera tracks merge into one air picture that cues a launch, no hand-typed coordinates.\nMonth three: a full detect-to-catch run with WEAVER on the range, logged and repeatable.\nWhat you bring\nYou integrated hardware you did not build (a sensor, vehicle or autopilot) and made it work in the field.\nStrong C++ or Python on Linux.\nComfort with networking, time sync and coordinate frames.\nTracking or sensor fusion experience.\nBonus points\nCounter-UAS, air-surveillance radar or defense work, or standards like ASTERIX or SAPIENT.\nYou fly FPV or build drones.\nCompensation\nBase salary: $100,000 to $150,000 per year.\nEquity: 0.2% to 0.4%, 4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff.\nWhere we work\nOn-site in San Francisco next to the founders, with regular field tests at outdoor ranges and customer sites.\nHow to apply\nApply here on Work at a Startup and answer the one question on the form: which sensor or vehicle you integrated that worked in the field, in one or two lines, plus a link if you can. 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.\nWe run every step ourselves, no recruiters.\nFirst, a 20-minute intro call with Jasper, or a coffee in San Francisco. You hear what we are building and where the integration work stands. We hear what you have connected and made work.\nThen a 45-minute technical deep dive on something you built: a sensor, radar, camera or autopilot integration you know inside out. Bring the code, the logs or a video. If it is under NDA or export control, just walk us through it, no code needed. We want to know what broke in the field and how you found out why. No whiteboard puzzles.\nNext, a working session with us on a sample task, for example getting a radar feed or a MAVLink link talking to our software. Never on controlled data. You see how we work, we see how you work.\nLast, with your OK, we call references, ideally people who stood next to you on a range or in a lab. Never your current employer without asking.\nWe decide within two weeks of the first call, and we tell you either way.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3960,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":1,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"},{"name":"Ukraine","iso":"UA","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Drones & UAVs","Air Defense","Homeland Security","Drone AI"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-05T05:35:46Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":58,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.772,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":17,"expected_fill_days":24,"reasons":["conf:1","win:late","comp:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-22T06:10:10Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":150000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/impact-drones-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/impact-drones-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-22T19:51:32Z","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":3470,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-23T00:00:00Z"}},"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-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas"},{"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-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas"},{"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-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas"},{"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-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fimpact-drones-integration-engineer-radar-and-drone-software-counter-uas"}]}