Firestorm Labs
Project Engineer, UAS Development
$160K–$190K
San Diego, United States · On-site · Full-time · Posted Oct 30, 2026
- Experience
- 5+ years in aerospace or defense engineering supporting complex electromechanical systems, with at least 2 years as a Project Engineer. Preferred: 7+ years in the field and 2+ years in UAS or autonomous platforms.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or related field; a master’s degree is preferred.
- Visa sponsorship
- U.S. citizenship is required due to ITAR regulations, along with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance. Export-control eligibility also includes lawful permanent residents, protected individuals, or others eligible to obtain required authorizations.
About the job
Drives cross-functional engineering execution across the development lifecycle of unmanned aerial systems, from concept through integration, flight test, and production readiness.
What you'll do
- Manage UAS technical maturity, plans, risks, timelines, budgets, and milestone reviews.
- Coordinate system requirements, architecture, verification, and subsystem integration across engineering and manufacturing teams.
- Develop and support ground and flight testing, including procedures, troubleshooting, and post-flight analysis.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
- 5+ years of aerospace or defense engineering experience supporting complex electromechanical systems, including at least 2 years as a Project Engineer.
- Experience with aircraft platform development, integration, or flight system maturity; familiarity with flight controls, communications, power systems, avionics, or payload integration.
- U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Defense security clearance; experience with CAD and simulation tools such as SolidWorks and MATLAB or Simulink.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree in a related engineering field; 7+ years of aerospace or defense experience; 2+ years with unmanned aerial systems or autonomous platforms.
- Hands-on aircraft or robotics experience; familiarity with autonomy, onboard compute, or AI/ML-enabled edge systems; DoD, NASA, or defense UAS program experience.
Pay
$160,000 - $190,000 USD (base salary)
Tools
SolidWorks, MATLAB, Simulink, HIL
AI focus
Preferred familiarity with AI/ML-enabled edge systems.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative