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Dominion Dynamics is seeking a Head of Autonomy to lead the aerial autonomy program for uncrewed aircraft systems operating in contested and degraded conditions with the Canadian Armed Forces. This is a full-time, on-site role based in Ottawa reporting to the Director of Autonomy.
You will set the technical direction and roadmap for aerial autonomy across perception, navigation, planning, and behaviours for uncrewed aircraft—both single vehicle and multi-vehicle systems. You will build the onboard autonomy stack capable of operating in GNSS-denied and electronic warfare environments, design the behaviour layer for mission execution and contingency management, and own the boundary between autonomy and flight control systems.
Key responsibilities include:
- Developing the aerial autonomy roadmap with sequenced technical milestones and capability progression across airframes
- Building perception and state estimation systems that survive GPS denial and electronic warfare
- Designing real-time planning algorithms that operate within vehicle compute and timing constraints
- Creating behaviour layers for mission execution, lost-link contingencies, and operator hand-back
- Developing collaborative autonomy for multi-aircraft tasking, deconfliction, and coordinated behaviour
- Integrating with AuraNet (the C2, mesh, and tasking layer) for bandwidth-constrained and disconnected operation
- Establishing evaluation standards for simulation, surrogate testing, and flight test validation
- Hiring, structuring, and leading the aerial autonomy engineering team
- Participating directly in flight trials, integration work, and operator debriefs
You will work on systems currently deployed with the CAF in real operational conditions, where autonomy must perform reliably when communications degrade and GPS is unavailable.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Senior engineering leader with hands-on experience flying autonomy in real airspace and real conditions (not simulation-only)
- Deep technical expertise across the aerial autonomy stack: onboard perception, state estimation, GNSS-denied navigation, real-time planning under compute/latency constraints, and flight control interfaces
- Proven experience with multi-vehicle or collaborative autonomy systems, including graceful degradation as communications degrade
- Track record leading engineering teams: hiring, structuring, setting technical direction, and accountability for roadmap delivery
- Strong command of both deterministic policies (rule-based) and probabilistic approaches (decision-making under uncertainty), with clear judgment on which suits the mission
- Flight test discipline: campaign planning, surrogate testing, failure analysis, and evidence-based trust building
- Based in Ottawa or willing to relocate (on-site role, close to customer)
NICE TO HAVE:
- Autonomy experience in contested electronic warfare or real jamming/spoofing environments
- Airworthiness or safety-case work for uncrewed aircraft
- Defence or dual-use air program experience
- Simulation-in-the-loop and sim-to-real validation
- Manned-unmanned teaming or experience with aircrew and UAS operators
- ROS 2 and embedded autonomy on constrained flight compute
- Cold-weather and Arctic operations experience
No defence background required; the company welcomes applicants who don't tick every box.
