UAV GNC / Flight Controls Engineer

Dronus, a leading company in autonomous drone technology, is seeking a practical and detail-oriented Guidance, Navigation, & Control (GNC) Engineer to join our team in Trieste. The role focuses on developing highly accurate and robust control algorithms for use in a number of different applications with demanding environmental conditions. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in UAV GNC developing, tuning, and validating flight control algorithms.

Key Responsibilities Create innovative, reliable, and efficient GNC solutions to enable new and challenging aircraft capabilities for different platform layouts (multirotor, variable geometry) Collaborate with other engineering disciplines (Systems, Software, Mechanical, Electrical) in planning, design and development of systems to ensure software and hardware performance and compatibility Analyse sensors' data and determine the best approach to achieve a clean and robust navigation solution, including for GNSS-denied airspace, leveraging the available range of installed sensors, including IMU, pressure, VIO Ideate and perform flight test campaigns to validate the control designs in a variety of flight conditions representative of real-world usage Assess third party and open source software which potentially augments existing flight control capabilities Participate hands-on in the full software life cycle, from concept through implementation, integration to flight test.

Experience Requirements MS in Aerospace, Robotics, Mechanical, Electrical, or related engineering fields A minimum of 3 years working in GNC, robotics, UAV engineering, aerospace, or related fields Coding experience (C/C++ preferred) for flight-critical components Hands-on experience with at least one UAV class (multirotor, fixed-wing, VTOL) Proven track record taking a control algorithm from ideation to flight testing Experience collaborating with hardware, avionics, and software teams

Preferred Qualifications Demonstrated experience with PX4-based platforms Experience with visual-inertial odometry (VIO), SLAM Experience with redundancy management, fault-tolerant control Experience with Validation&Verification procedures Knowledge of sensor drift issues and mitigation methods Ability to debug control/system issues in the field Familiarity with version control and collaboration tools (Jira, Git, or equivalents)