UAV Prototyping Engineer

About Us

STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionizing the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop and manufacture high performance unmanned aerial and terrestrial systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost effective. This provides our operators with a decisive edge in highly contested environments.

We’re focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems—not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe—today.

About the team

Your mission

Take ideas from napkin sketches to flying hardware, faster than anyone thinks is reasonable from traditional legacy aerospace companies. This isn't a role for people who wait for requirements documents or detailed instructions; it's for engineers who are already halfway through a solution before the problem has been fully explained. We seek creative engineers that like to build their designs and have a strong theoretical engineering foundation.

Responsibilities

• Physically build UAV prototypes end-to-end — from design concept and material selection through to first flight, take full ownership through the entire engineering design cycles till a working prototype is achieved.

• Design and fabricate airframe structures, avionic stacks, mechanisms, ground support equipment, and integration. Whatever the project demands with a can do attitude.

• Work directly with various engineering groups that are multidisciplinary.

• Support flight test campaigns in the field — launches, recoveries, rapid turnaround repairs, and the occasional "why is this vibrating?" debrief, you know the fun stuff.

• Apply engineering rigour to informal knowledge: if you learned it in a club field or a shed, document it, systematise it, and make it repeatable. Learn from your mistakes and update your designs.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable end-to-end experience across a full engineering development cycle: concept, design, analysis, detail design, prototyping, programming, testing, iterate, repeat and have fun.

• Hands-on experience with composites, mechanical assemblies, robotics, and embedded hardware integration — gained in a workshop because you like this kind of stuff. 

• Comfort with ambiguity and fast iteration — you've shipped hardware under competition pressure and know what good-enough-to-test looks like versus good-enough-to-deploy. Perfection is the enemy of good enough for prototyping.

• Strong spatial and logical problem solving mindset; you can look at a broken airframe and know what happened before anyone tells you. You can see a path to the root cause and can imply corrective actions quickly.

Nice to have

• Active A2/A3 drone pilot certification or equivalent national licence

• Experience with CAD tools (Fusion 360, SolidWorks (preferred) , or similar) for rapid design iteration

• Familiarity with flight controller ecosystems — PX4, ArduPilot, Betaflight

• Exposure to fixed-wing platforms, not just multirotor

• Workshop or motorsport background — you love to build stuff not just a pencil pusher.

If you´re interested in building the future of European Defence with us, and you see yourself reflected on the description above, please send us your CV in English. We´re looking forward to meeting you!

About us

SECURITY CLEARANCE Due to the nature of our work in the defence sector, candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain the appropriate security clearance required for this position. Details will be provided during the recruitment process.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.