Shield AI is an American defence technology company founded in 2015 that builds autonomy software and uncrewed aircraft for military missions. Its Hivemind autonomy stack lets aircraft fly, navigate and complete objectives without GPS, a remote pilot or a communications link, which matters in contested environments where those links are jammed. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company fields the V-BAT vertical take-off aircraft with United States and allied forces, licenses Hivemind to other manufacturers and is developing the X-BAT jet for high-end missions.
HQ: San Diego, United States • Space & Aerospace • Drones & UAVs • Defense AI • Military Drones • Military • Artificial Intelligence • 1001-5000 employees • Est. 2015
≈ $89k – $193k per year (Estimated) • Staff+ • 3+ years exp • In office (London, United Kingdom) • Bachelor's Degree • Internship • Staff • English: C1 (Optional) • Ukrainian: C1 (Optional)
C++
Python
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
QGroundControl
ROS
Senior • 3+ years exp • In office (Kyiv, Ukraine) • Bachelor's Degree • Internship • Senior • Ukrainian: C1 (Optional)
C++
Python
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
QGroundControl
ROS
≈ $139k – $301k per year (Estimated) • Staff+ • 3+ years exp • In office (London, United Kingdom) • Bachelor's Degree • Internship • Staff • Ukrainian: C1 (Optional)
C++
Python
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
QGroundControl
ROS
Theseus builds ultra-compact GPS alternatives that help drones navigate challenging environments with unmatched efficiency.
San Francisco • Drones & UAVs • 11-50 employees
$80k – $120k per year • Equity 0.1–0.5% • In office (San Francisco, United States) • Full-Time
C++
Python
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
Mach Industries is an American defense technology and advanced manufacturing company. Founded in 2022 by Ethan Thornton and headquartered in Huntington Beach, California (with facilities in Austin and San Luis Obispo), the venture-backed startup develops autonomous defense hardware, strike munitions, and novel hydrogen-powered propulsion systems designed for scalable, high-volume manufacturing.
HQ: Huntington Beach, United States • Manufacturing • Defense Manufacturing • Military • 201-500 employees • Est. 2022
$120k – $155k per year • Equity • Junior • 1+ year exp • In office (Huntington Beach, United States) • Full-Time • Junior
C++
Python
DevOps
GitHub
Cybersecurity
Wireshark
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
Mission Planner
QGroundControl
ROS2
Management
Draw.io
$125k – $220k per year • Equity • Middle • 3+ years exp • In office (Huntington Beach, United States) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Middle
C++
Python
DevOps
CI/CD
Git
RTOS
Robotics
MAVLink
ROS
Management
Jira
Auterion is a Swiss company founded in 2017 that builds an open operating system for drones and robotic vehicles. Its software is derived from the PX4 open source autopilot and powers fleets for defence, government and enterprise users. The company works closely with NATO members and American defence programmes.
HQ: Zurich, Switzerland • Robotics AI • Robotics • Artificial Intelligence • Est. 2017
≈ $96k – $241k per year (Estimated) • Equity • Senior • In office (Zurich, Switzerland) • Bachelor's Degree • Senior
C++
Python
AI/ML
Computer Vision
OpenCV
Quantization
Robotics
MAVLink
ROS2
Sensor Fusion
SLAM
≈ $70k – $162k per year (Estimated) • Equity • In office (Munich, Germany) • Bachelor's Degree
C++
Python
DevOps
Docker
Robotics
MAVLink
≈ $82k – $184k per year (Estimated) • Equity • In office (London, United Kingdom)
C++
DevOps
Docker
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
Delian Alliance Industries builds autonomous surveillance towers and defence systems for European border and infrastructure protection. Founded in 2023 in Athens, its sensors run computer vision at the edge to detect intrusion without operators. The company is part of a wave of European defence technology startups.
HQ: Athens, Greece • 51-200 employees • Est. 2023
In office (Kyiv, Ukraine) • Full-Time • Ukrainian: C1 • English
Python
AI/ML
Claude
Claude Code
DevOps
Docker
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
MMLab@NTU is an academic research laboratory housed within Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore). Founded in 2018 and led by prominent faculty including Prof. Chen Change Loy and Prof. Ziwei Liu, the lab comprises roughly 40 researchers pioneering artificial intelligence, computer vision, multimodal foundation models, spatial intelligence (3D/4D generation), and embodied AI (vision-language-action robotics).
Singapore • Artificial Intelligence • 1001-5000 employees • Est. 2018
≈ $66k – $195k per year (Estimated) • Junior • In office (Singapore) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Junior
C++
MATLAB
Python
AI/ML
AI Agents
Robotics
AirSim
ArduPilot
Gazebo
MAVLink
Obstacle Avoidance
Path Planning
ROS
Booz Allen Hamilton is a major American management and technology consulting firm that provides strategic, engineering, and cybersecurity services primarily to the U.S. government, defense agencies, and commercial clients. Founded in 1914 and headquartered in McLean, Virginia, the company is known for its deep expertise in defense, intelligence, and civil infrastructure. Today, it plays a central role in national security and government modernization by deploying advanced capabilities in artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and cyber defense.
HQ: McLean, United States • Military • Information Technology • IT Consulting • Government • Cybersecurity • Homeland Security • National Security • 5000+ employees • Est. 1914
$113k – $257k per year • Senior • 6+ years exp • In office (Rome, Italy) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Senior
C++
Rust
AI/ML
Cursor
CUDA
CUDA Toolkit
DevOps
CI/CD
GitHub Actions
GitLab CI
Helm
K3s
Kubernetes
GitHub
GitLab
MicroK8s
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
NODA AI is a defense autonomy company headquartered in Austin, Texas, and founded in 2024. The company develops a vendor agnostic reasoning layer that coordinates manned and unmanned platforms across air, surface, subsurface, ground, and space domains from a single decision system. It works with United States and United Kingdom defence customers and raised a 25 million dollar Series A in 2026 to deliver those programmes.
HQ: Austin, United States • Military Drones • Military & Tactical Robotics • Robotics • Defense AI • C4ISR • Military • Artificial Intelligence • 201-500 employees • Est. 2024
Equity • Senior • 6+ years exp • In office (Austin, United States) • Full-Time • Senior
C++
Python
Rust
AI/ML
Reinforcement Learning
Robotics
AirSim
Gazebo
Isaac Sim
Motion Planning
Path Planning
Sensor Fusion
Zenoh
MAVLink
Reinforcement Learning
Swarm Robotics
IoT
MQTT
Equity • Middle • 4+ years exp • Remote/Hybrid • Full-Time • Middle • Chinese
C++
Python
C
C
ZeroMQ
AI/ML
AI Agents
Human-in-the-Loop
Robotics
Zenoh
ArduPilot
MAVLink
Mission Planner
QGroundControl
ROS
ROS2
IoT
MQTT
≈ $126k – $239k per year (Estimated) • Equity • Senior • 5+ years exp • Remote/Hybrid (Austin, United States) • Full-Time • Senior
C++
Python
Rust
AI/ML
Human-in-the-Loop
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
ROS
ROS2
SLAM
Zenoh
STR (formerly Smith Travel Research) is a global leader in data benchmarking, market analytics, and performance insights for the hospitality industry. Operating as a subsidiary of CoStar Group, the company aggregates confidential market data - tracking supply, demand, occupancy rates, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) across tens of thousands of hotels worldwide.
HQ: Woburn, United States • Travel & Tourism • Business Intelligence • Data & Analytics • 1001-5000 employees
$115k – $145k per year • Junior • 2+ years exp • Remote (United States, Morocco) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Junior
C++
Java
Python
AI/ML
Reinforcement Learning
AI Agents
DevOps
CI/CD
Cybersecurity
SonarQube
Game Dev
Unreal Engine
Robotics
MAVLink
$115k – $145k per year • Junior • 2+ years exp • Arlington • Remote (United States) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Junior
C++
Java
Python
AI/ML
Reinforcement Learning
AI Agents
DevOps
CI/CD
Cybersecurity
SonarQube
Game Dev
Unreal Engine
Robotics
MAVLink
$173k – $216k per year • Lead • 7+ years exp • Remote (United States, Morocco) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Staff
C++
Java
Python
AI/ML
Reinforcement Learning
AI Agents
DevOps
CI/CD
GitLab
Robotics
MAVLink
Management
Confluence
Pioneering off-road autonomy for defense. We’re not talking commercial trucks and taxis on dirt roads. We’re talking no roads, no GPS, going cross country.
Seattle • San Francisco • Artificial Intelligence • Military • Autonomous Driving
$150k – $250k per year • Equity • Junior • 2+ years exp • In office (San Francisco, United States) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Junior
Python
AI/ML
Cursor
LLM
Robotics
MAVLink
ROS
Defense Unicorns is a software technology firm headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and was established in 2021. The company provides the Unicorn Delivery Service platform, which facilitates the secure packaging and deployment of cloud-native applications to airgapped, edge, and cloud environments. It operates as a remote-first organization primarily serving the United States Department of Defense and national security agencies through open-source DevSecOps and compliance automation solutions.
HQ: Colorado Springs, United States • Cloud Computing • Information Technology • Cyber Warfare • DevSecOps • Cybersecurity • Government • National Security • Military • Est. 2021
≈ $131k – $262k per year (Estimated) • Equity • Lead • Remote (United States) • Contractor • Staff
Edge AI
DevOps
CI/CD
Kubernetes
AWS
Azure
GCP
GitOps
Helm
Kustomize
Pulumi
Terraform
Robotics
MAVLink
ROS2
Applied Intuition is a Silicon Valley software company founded in 2017 that develops digital infrastructure and simulation platforms for autonomous systems and physical AI. The platform provides advanced tools for simulation, synthetic data generation, and vehicle software management, allowing engineers to develop, test, and safely deploy self-driving technology. It serves leading global automotive manufacturers, defense organizations, and commercial transport companies across sectors like trucking, agriculture, and mining.
HQ: Mountain View, United States • Smart Mobility • Manufacturing • Automotive Manufacturing • Artificial Intelligence • Autonomous Driving • 1001-5000 employees • Est. 2017
$120k – $165k per year • Equity • Senior • 5+ years exp • In office (Fort Walton Beach, United States) • Full-Time • Senior
C++
Python
DevOps
Docker
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
Archer Aviation is an American aerospace company that designs and manufactures electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company focuses on urban air mobility, autonomous flight systems, and defense aviation platforms.
HQ: San Jose, United States • Transportation & Logistics • Smart Mobility • Space & Aerospace • Aircraft Manufacturing
$140k – $260k per year • In office (San Jose, United States) • Visa sponsorship
MATLAB
Python
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
ROS
Headquartered in Berlin, Germany (with additional presence across Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Sweden), STARK Defence is a defense technology enterprise specializing in autonomous unmanned systems and military software engineering. Founded in 2024 in response to modern operational demands, the firm develops AI-enabled, software-defined loitering munitions, strike drones, and modular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) engineered for high-threat, electronic warfare environments.
HQ: Berlin, Germany • Military • Military Drones • 501-1000 employees • Est. 2024
In office (Munich, Germany) • Full-Time • English
Python
Robotics
ArduPilot
MAVLink
ROS
ROS2
Design
Fusion 360
SolidWorks
In office (Munich, Germany) • Full-Time
C++
Python
C++
PyTorch C++
AI/ML
Computer Vision
OpenCV
CUDA
CUDA Toolkit
ONNX
PyTorch
Synthetic Data
TensorRT
DevOps
Docker
Git
Robotics
GStreamer
ROS2
ArduPilot
Gazebo
Isaac Sim
MAVLink
Open3D
≈ $77k – $155k per year (Estimated) • Senior • In office (Munich, Germany) • Master's Degree • Full-Time • Senior • German: C1 • English
C++
DevOps
gRPC
WebSockets
Robotics
MAVLink
MAVSDK
PingWind is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) IT services, cybersecurity, and supply chain management provider headquartered in Annandale, Virginia. Founded in 2012 by U.S. Army veteran Aaron Moak, the company delivers mission-critical technology solutions to U.S. federal government partners across defense, intelligence, civilian, and health agencies (including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security).
Huntsville • Washington • Alexandria • Austin • Chicago • Information Technology • Government • Cybersecurity • Est. 2012
$84k – $117k per year • Senior • 5+ years exp • In office (Virginia Beach, United States) • Bachelor's Degree • Full-Time • Senior
C++
Python
C++
Qt
Robotics
ArduPilot
Autonomous Navigation
Betaflight
MAVLink
Obstacle Avoidance
Path Planning
QGroundControl
Sensor Fusion
BRINC is a US company developing tech in the service of public safety. Known for Drone as First Responder, indoor tactical drones and more.
Seattle • National Security • Robotics • Drones & UAVs
$122k – $275k per year • Junior • 2+ years exp • Remote/Hybrid (Seattle, United States) • Master's Degree • Full-Time • Junior
C++
Python
Robotics
Sensor Fusion
MAVLink
MAVSDK
ROS
ROS2
Axon Enterprise is a global leader in public safety technology, best known for developing TASER energy weapons, body-worn cameras, and digital evidence management software. Its cloud-based ecosystem enables law enforcement, first responders, and military personnel to collect, manage, and analyze operational data and video footage in real time. Driven by a mission to protect life and preserve truth, the company provides hardware, artificial intelligence, and software solutions designed to streamline emergency response and reduce violent conflict.
HQ: Scottsdale, United States • Information Technology • 1001-5000 employees
Equity • Senior • 8+ years exp • In office (Brussels, Belgium) • Bachelor's Degree • Senior
C++
Rust
C++
CMake
AI/ML
Computer Vision
Human-in-the-Loop
DevOps
CI/CD
Bazel
Robotics
ROS
ArduPilot
Autonomous Navigation
Betaflight
Gazebo
Isaac Sim
MAVLink
MuJoCo
Path Planning
SLAM
Zenoh
Harmattan AI is a French defense technology company headquartered in Paris. Founded in 2024 by Mouad M'Ghari, the company operates as a next-generation "defense prime" specializing in vertically integrated autonomous systems, AI-enabled mission software, and scalable uncrewed platforms for modern warfare.
HQ: Paris, France • Military • Military Drones • Artificial Intelligence • Defense AI • 501-1000 employees • Est. 2024
≈ $44k – $114k per year (Estimated) • Middle • 3+ years exp • In office (Paris, France) • Master's Degree • Full-Time • Middle • English: C1
C++
Java
C++
Qt
Robotics
MAVLink
QGroundControl
Salary range
| Seniority |
Jobs |
25% |
Median |
75% |
| Senior |
8 |
$165K |
$184K |
$184K |
| All levels |
21 |
$165K |
$200K |
$230K |
Based only on the listings that state pay. Gross annual amounts, converted to USD so roles in different currencies stay comparable.
The market right now
Alion currently lists 43 open MAVLink jobs from 18 companies. 11 of them were posted or refreshed in the last seven days. 17 of the employers have posted something in the last three months, which is the pool worth watching if you are starting a search now. Every listing links straight to the employer, so you apply on their own board rather than through an intermediary.
What these roles pay
21 of these MAVLink jobs state pay directly. Across them the middle half of the market sits between $165K and $230K a year, with a median of $200K. Figures are gross annual amounts converted to US dollars, so roles in different currencies stay comparable.
Where the work is
The largest concentrations of these roles are Ukraine (3), Germany (2), France (1), Belgium (1), and Switzerland (1). 21% of the listings are fully remote and a further 7% are hybrid, so a large part of this market is open to you regardless of where you live.
Who is hiring
The employers with the most open MAVLink jobs right now are Shield AI (8), STR (7), STARK Defence (7), NODA AI (3), Auterion (3), and Applied Intuition (2). Each company page on Alion carries its size, funding stage, tech stack and every other position it has open, so you can judge the employer before you spend an evening on the application.
What employers ask for
Reading across the current listings, the tools that come up most often are MAVLink (43), C++ (38), Python (31), ArduPilot (22), ROS (14), CI/CD (13), AI Agents (10), and ROS2 (9). The counts are how many of these openings name each one, which is a better guide to what is actually being hired for than a generic skills list.
Relocation, visas and equity
Of the current MAVLink jobs, 1 states visa sponsorship and 14 include equity. These are filters on the list above, so you can narrow it to the ones that make a move possible for you.
