Drone Hardware Engineer

Drone Mid-level (L4 equivalent) 2-5 years

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Anduril

Skydio

Shield AI

Zipline

DJI

AeroVironment

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The job description

Tech stack. Altium/KiCad, PCB design (high-current, mixed-signal), DFM/DFT, SolidWorks, 3D printing and rapid prototyping, power electronics, STM32, test fixtures

About the role

You will join a drone technology company as a hands-on hardware engineer designing the physical guts of the aircraft: flight controller carrier boards, power distribution, ESC interfaces, and structural electronics. You take designs from schematic to assembled, tested hardware that survives vibration, heat, and the occasional hard landing. Your hardware is the foundation everything else flies on, and its quality sets the ceiling for the entire product. You will also support failure analysis on returned hardware, turning field data into design improvements that make each hardware revision measurably more robust than the last.

What you will achieve

Design and release PCB assemblies for flight-critical functions, hitting cost, weight, and manufacturability targets on schedule without late-stage surprises.
Reduce hardware failure rates in the field by driving root-cause analysis and design changes that are backed by test data, not hunches.
Accelerate prototyping cycles by owning rapid bring-up: soldering, debugging, and validating your own boards on the bench within days, not weeks.
Improve manufacturing yield and lower unit cost through DFM reviews with contract manufacturers and proactive supplier engagement.
Deliver complete hardware documentation packages, including schematics, layouts, BOMs, and test procedures, that let the team build and support products confidently.

What you will bring

Must-haves

2-5 years of experience designing PCBs for embedded or electromechanical products, including high-current and mixed-signal layouts.
Proficiency in Altium, KiCad, or equivalent ECAD tools through schematic capture, layout, and Gerber release.
Hands-on bench skills: soldering including fine-pitch components, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and power supplies for board bring-up.
Understanding of power electronics fundamentals: DC-DC conversion, motor drive interfaces, and thermal management of power stages.
Experience with microcontroller-based designs (STM32 or similar) including clocking, reset circuits, and programming interfaces.
Familiarity with DFM/DFT practices and working directly with PCB fabricators and assembly houses.
Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related field.

Nice-to-haves

Mechanical design skills in SolidWorks for enclosures, board mounting, and thermal solutions.
Experience with environmental and vibration testing of electronic hardware for airborne applications.
Knowledge of IPC standards for PCB design, assembly, and inspection.
Background in designing test fixtures that scale board validation into production.