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Salary: USD 180,000 - 210,000 / annual
Mach Industries, founded in 2023, is a rapidly growing defense technology company with ~350 employees focused on developing next-generation autonomous defense platforms. The company is committed to delivering scalable, decentralized defense systems that enhance strategic capabilities for the United States and its allies.
You will lead the fielding, operation, and continued development of autonomous defense platforms, sitting at the intersection of engineering, flight operations, product development, and customer engagement. This is a hands-on technical leadership role requiring deep understanding of complete system architectures and the ability to diagnose complex multidisciplinary problems while remaining directly engaged with aircraft, ground systems, personnel, and field operations.
Key responsibilities include: establishing and maintaining operating standards for autonomous vehicles and supporting systems; determining operational readiness of vehicles, personnel, equipment, and deployment packages; owning operational readiness for assigned vehicle families (including stratospheric or high-performance autonomous platforms); leading Flight Operations engagement with military customers, government sponsors, and external stakeholders; advising company leadership on deployment readiness and technical risk; driving product improvements by translating field feedback into engineering priorities; partnering with engineering teams to transition prototypes into reliable, repeatable products; developing operational concepts of employment and field-support strategies; owning internal and customer-facing training programs; developing instructors and ensuring consistent training delivery; leading development and approval of operational procedures, checklists, and maintenance practices; providing technical leadership during flight tests, demonstrations, and deployments; diagnosing multidisciplinary issues across mechanical systems, avionics, communications, networking, flight controls, payloads, and ground systems; leading international operations and foreign military engagements; managing, mentoring, and developing other Forward Deployed Autonomous Systems Engineers; and ensuring lessons learned are captured and incorporated into products and procedures.
This is not primarily a pilot role. Success requires deep technical judgment, operational credibility, decisive leadership, and the ability to connect engineering decisions with deployment outcomes.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in robotics, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, or another relevant STEM discipline; or equivalent hands-on technical experience
- Extensive experience operating, integrating, testing, or fielding unmanned aircraft, autonomous systems, robotics, or similarly complex electromechanical systems
- Demonstrated experience leading technical field operations, deployments, flight-test activities, or customer demonstrations
- Strong understanding of complete system architectures and subsystem interactions
- Advanced troubleshooting ability across several disciplines, including mechanical systems, avionics, radio-frequency systems, networking, flight controls, and software
- Experience determining operational readiness and making risk-informed go/no-go recommendations
- Experience developing technical procedures, checklists, operating standards, training materials, or maintenance practices
- Experience training technical personnel and developing other instructors
- Demonstrated ability to translate operational findings into actionable product or engineering improvements
- Experience working directly with customers, government sponsors, military units, or test ranges
- Strong technical documentation and written communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and hold technical personnel accountable
- Ability to communicate technical risk clearly to engineering teams, customers, and company leadership
- Ability to travel frequently and lead multi-day domestic and international deployments
- Ability to operate effectively in austere field environments and during high-tempo test campaigns
- Ability to meet security, export-control, or customer-access requirements associated with the role
- Available to work extended hours and weekends as needed
- Must be a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, Refugee, or Asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State (ITAR requirement)
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience transitioning an autonomous system from prototype development into a repeatable operational product
- Experience developing operational concepts of employment for unmanned or autonomous systems
- Experience supporting international military operations, foreign military demonstrations, or partner-nation training
- Experience owning the operational readiness of a vehicle program or product family
- Experience managing or formally leading a team of field engineers, operators, or technicians
- Experience with stratospheric, long-endurance, high-speed, or other high-performance autonomous vehicles
- Advanced experience with PX4, ArduPilot, QGroundControl, Mission Planner, or comparable flight-control ecosystems
- Experience analyzing system logs and leading structured root-cause investigations
- Experience with Linux, Git, Python, C++, Rust, Bash, or other relevant engineering tools
- Experience with tactical radios, MIMO or mesh networks, companion computers, embedded systems, sensors, or specialized test equipment
- Experience developing customer-facing technical documentation and training curricula
- Experience advising senior leadership on operational readiness, deployment risk, and program priorities
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
- Active or previously held U.S. security clearance
