Senior UAV System Engineer | Defence

Job Overview-
Location: Noida (Sector 132)
Employment Type: Full-time
Experience Required- 5-8 Years
About the Company-
Zoid is a high-tech R&D startup devoted to developing cutting-edge technologies in the Defence and Aerospace sector. We primarily deliver customized solutions to the Indian Armed Forces, leveraging our expertise in AI, Electronics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and Robotics.
Currently Funded By The IDEX Initiative Under The Ministry Of Defence, India, We Are Working On Projects Of Strategic National Importance, Including
AI-based FOD detection software for Naval Air Stations
Reusable Off-board Missile Decoys for Anti-Ship Missile Defense
Role Overview -
We are seeking an experienced Senior Systems Engineer to lead the development and deployment systems for defense and aerospace applications. You will oversee system integration, drive technical requirements definition, and lead a team of system engineer and jr. engineer in a mission-critical product environment. You will be the bridge between hardware, software, and product teams, ensuring that all components work seamlessly together, meet performance specifications, and comply with defense/aerospace standards.
Key Responsibilities
Design & Architect Core Software Systems
Design end-to-end software architectures for defense systems: drone swarms, AI inference servers (marine/ground), third-party platform integrations, GCS/HMI, and vehicle-mounted sensor platforms
Define the full stack for each system: application logic, IPC, networking, OS configuration, security hardening, deployment
Produce documentation to IEEE/ISO/IEC 12207 and IEEE 29148 (prior experience not mandatory; learn within the first few months)
Familiarity with DO-178C, MIL-STD-498, STANAG 4586 is a plus
Set and enforce coding standards, code reviews, version control workflows, and CI/build practices
Autonomous UAV Software
Modify ArduPilot/PX4 (or similar) core code: custom flight modes, EKF tuning, failsafe logic, new sensors and payloads
Develop companion computer software for perception, mission decisions, payload control, and comms relay
Build multi-drone swarming: coordination, formation control, task allocation, deconfliction
Implement GNSS-denied navigation (VIO, optical flow, terrain-relative navigation)
Work extensively with MAVLink, including custom messages
Maintain SITL/HITL simulation and analyze flight logs
Integrate payloads: gimbal cameras, EO/IR, GNSS, rangefinders, LIDAR, comms modules
Edge AI Deployment (COMPUTER)
Run AI team models on systems, low-SWaP edge compute (Jetson Orin/Xavier, Intel NUC) and high-throughput rack/rugged servers
Build edge infrastructure: video ingestion, pre-processing, result aggregation, alerting, structured logging
Find bottlenecks and work with the CV engineer on model size, quantization, resolution, and architecture to hit latency/throughput targets
Hardware and Sensor Integration
Interface with GNSS, IMUs, industrial/thermal cameras, LIDAR, rangefinders, radios, flight controllers, and gimbals
Generic hardware: use and contribute to open-source drivers, configure kernel modules, write integration layers
Specialized hardware (Basler/FLIR, Veronte, military radios): use vendor SDKs and build wrappers that isolate vendor dependencies
Communicate over UART, SPI, I2C, RS-232, RS-422
Read datasheets, coordinate with hardware engineers, debug hardware-software boundary issues
Linux Systems, Networking, and Infrastructure
Build and harden Ubuntu OS images for field systems: secure boot, minimal attack surface, automated provisioning, systemd, permission lockdown
Implement process management: watchdogs, heartbeats, auto-restart, graceful shutdown
Write bash scripts for configuration, networking, orchestration, and deployment
Build TCP/UDP, RTSP streaming, and mesh networking
Implement IEEE 1588 PTP and NTP time synchronization
Required Qualifications
5 to 8 years of software engineering experience, mostly in robotics, autonomous systems, embedded, or defense software, with real hardware in the loop (drones, ground vehicles, robotic arms)
Expert-level C++ (memory management, concurrency, multi-threading, performance optimization); production-level Python for automation and scripting
Proven experience designing architectures for real-time or mission-critical systems: module decomposition, IPC, state machines, data flow, deployment topology
Deep Linux proficiency: process management, networking stack, shell scripting, OS-level debugging
Hands-on ArduPilot or PX4 source experience (or a comparable large robotics stack); understanding of MAVLink, SITL/HITL, companion computers, flight log analysis, custom flight modes
Socket-level TCP/UDP programming; experience with at least one pub/sub middleware
Preferred Qualifications
Ability (or demonstrated aptitude) to produce defense-grade documentation to IEEE 12207
ML inference on edge hardware (Jetson Orin/Xavier, NUC-class; TensorRT, ONNX Runtime)
DDS implementation, including QoS configuration and domain architecture
Hardware bring-up experience: UART, SPI, I2C, RS-422, industrial camera SDKs (Basler, FLIR, Allied Vision)
ROS/ROS 2 with real robot or drone deployments
GStreamer/RTSP video pipeline development
GNSS receiver integration and protocols (NMEA, UBX)
IEEE 1588 PTP / NTP time synchronization
Familiarity with DO-178C, MIL-STD-498, STANAG 4586
Multi-drone swarming, formation control, or multi-agent coordination
Open-source contributions (ArduPilot, PX4, ROS, or equivalent)
GCS and C2/HMI software (QGroundControl, Mission Planner, or custom), STANAG 4586, or naval combat management system integration
Tactical radios and data links: mesh radios, basic link budgets, encrypted links
Code- ArduSys
Skills: networking,ardupilot,defense,software

Work arrangement
No