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Salary: USD 105,000 - 180,000 / annual
Mach Industries, founded in 2023, is a rapidly growing defense technology company developing next-generation autonomous unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platforms. With ~350 employees, the company operates with startup agility while focusing on scalable, decentralized defense systems for the U.S. and its allies.
You will own the external data capture architecture for flight tests across Mach's autonomous UAS platforms. This hands-on field engineering role is responsible for designing, deploying, troubleshooting, and validating multi-source capture systems in dynamic range environments. You will support the full test lifecycle: planning, readiness reviews, dry runs, day-of-test execution, and post-test data handoff.
Key responsibilities include:
- Plan and deploy external data capture systems for flight tests, including high-speed cameras, drone-based footage, and ground-based sensors
- Design and maintain time-sync architecture across external capture systems and vehicle telemetry sources
- Align video, sensor, and instrumentation outputs with ground-control and Mavlink telemetry logs
- Support the full test workflow, including readiness reviews, dry runs, test-day execution, and post-test review
- Coordinate with flight operations, manufacturing, engineering teams, vendors, and range personnel to ensure instrumentation supports test objectives
- Capture safety-critical and engineering-critical events such as launch behavior, separation events, anomaly behavior, flight-path deviations, and impact sequences
- Build and maintain deployment-ready field kits for external instrumentation, including cameras, mounts, sync hardware, storage media, power systems, and protective equipment
- Organize, label, and package datasets so engineering teams can quickly use them for analysis
- Improve capture procedures, sync methods, equipment standards, and documentation based on field experience
- Support flight testing at private and DoD ranges, including multi-day deployments and occasional travel
Because Mach develops low-cost, rapidly iterated UAS platforms, external instrumentation is often critical to failure analysis and engineering decision-making. Success requires technical judgment, discipline under field conditions, and the ability to turn raw test capture into trusted engineering evidence on a fast development cadence.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, robotics, systems engineering, or another relevant technical discipline, or equivalent hands-on experience
- 3+ years of experience with flight test instrumentation, field data capture, camera systems, sensor integration, or similar live-test technical operations
- Experience with high-speed video systems and/or drone-based capture in outdoor operational environments
- Working knowledge of time synchronization across multiple independent data sources, including timecode, GPS-based sync, hardware triggers, or related methods
- Experience correlating external capture data with telemetry or ground-control-system logs
- Ability to set up, calibrate, and troubleshoot capture equipment and sensors in the field
- Strong attention to detail and data traceability
- Ability to make sound technical decisions under time pressure
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to travel frequently and support multi-day field deployments
- Ability to meet export-control, security, and 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 compliance)
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
- Experience supporting UAS, defense, or aerospace flight test programs
- Familiarity with Mission Planner, QGroundControl, or similar ground-control software
- Experience with photogrammetry, motion tracking, or post-test reconstruction workflows
- Experience scripting in Python or Bash for data handling, validation, or automation
- Familiarity with telemetry files and RF communications systems used in test environments
- Experience working on private ranges, DoD ranges, or other controlled test environments
- Experience supporting rapid hardware iteration and fast post-test turnaround cycles
