Autopilot Software Engineer

Autopilot Software Engineer- Permanent - Hampshire (Hybrid)

Role summary

We're hiring a full-time, permanent Autopilot Engineer based in Hampshire. The role is primarily on-site due to hardware and flight-test activity, with flexible hybrid working available.

You'll join an agile engineering team building safety-critical flight control software for an autopilot system, working from early requirements and feasibility through to on-site testing and real-world validation.

What you'll be doing

• Contribute to requirements capture, plus concept and feasibility studies
• Develop safety-critical flight control software to an exceptional reliability standard
• Support the test ecosystem end-to-end: automated unit testing through to on-site flight testing
• Maintain and (as required) fly the autopilot model aircraft test fleet
• Support issue identification, fault-finding and debugging across software and integrated systems

What we're looking for (essential)

• Professional embedded software engineering experience, including Embedded C/C++
• Clear passion for the field, evidenced by personal/university projects alongside commercial experience
• Strong understanding of mechanics of flight and aerospace control systems, with practical application
• Ability to develop behavioural / application-level logic (the "what to do", not just the "how to do")
• Comfortable using Git within an agile team, with solid engineering documentation habits
• Strong hands-on experience with STM32 MCUs and the wider MCU toolchain (IDEs/compilers/debuggers)
• Low-level driver knowledge: CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, ICU (and similar)
• Enough embedded hardware knowledge to support software integration onto rigs / test hardware
• Ability to support testing from unit tests to flight testing
• Flexible mindset-willing to go above and beyond to deliver on-time with real-world quality/performance

Nice to have

• Aviation or RC model aircraft interest/background (including piloting)
• Experience with open-source autopilot ecosystems such as Betaflight, Ardupilot, PX4, MissionPlanner

Location / working pattern

• Hybrid, but primarily on-site (hardware + flight test requirements)
• Permanent role