Job Title: Drone AI EngineerJob Summary We are seeking a Drone AI Engineer to design, develop, and deploy AI-powered autonomous drone solutions for aerial inspection, surveillance, mapping, monitoring, logistics, and precision operations. The ideal candidate will have expertise in robotics, computer vision, autonomous navigation, machine learning, and embedded systems. This role involves developing intelligent flight capabilities, real-time perception, obstacle avoidance, and mission planning while ensuring safe, reliable, and scalable drone operations.
Key Responsibilities - Design, develop, and optimize AI-powered software for autonomous drone operations.
- Develop computer vision models for object detection, object tracking, aerial inspection, scene understanding, and anomaly detection.
- Build autonomous navigation, path planning, waypoint navigation, and obstacle avoidance algorithms.
- Implement sensor fusion using cameras, LiDAR, GPS, IMU, ultrasonic sensors, radar, and other onboard sensors.
- Develop flight control, mission planning, and autonomous decision-making capabilities.
- Integrate AI models with UAV flight controllers and onboard edge computing devices.
- Optimize AI inference for real-time execution on embedded hardware.
- Develop drone simulation environments and validate algorithms before field deployment.
- Integrate drones with cloud platforms, IoT systems, GIS platforms, and enterprise applications.
- Conduct flight testing, calibration, debugging, and performance validation.
- Implement monitoring, telemetry, diagnostics, and fleet management capabilities.
- Ensure compliance with aviation regulations, operational safety standards, and cybersecurity requirements.
- Prepare technical documentation, operational procedures, and deployment guidelines.
Required Qualifications - Bachelor's or Master's degree in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
- 3+ years of experience in drone software development, robotics, computer vision, or AI engineering.
- Strong programming skills in Python and C++.
- Experience with ROS or ROS2.
- Experience with drone flight stacks such as PX4 or ArduPilot.
- Knowledge of MAVLink communication protocol.
- Strong understanding of robotics, control systems, autonomous navigation, and sensor fusion.
- Experience with Linux development environments, Git, and Docker.
- Familiarity with embedded systems and edge AI deployment.
Preferred Qualifications - Experience with computer vision frameworks such as OpenCV, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or YOLO.
- Experience with drone simulation platforms such as Gazebo, AirSim, NVIDIA Isaac Sim, or Unreal Engine.
- Knowledge of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), Visual SLAM (VSLAM), and Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO).
- Experience with NVIDIA Jetson, CUDA, TensorRT, and AI inference optimization.
- Familiarity with GIS, photogrammetry, and geospatial data processing.
- Experience integrating drones with cloud services and real-time telemetry platforms.
- Knowledge of swarm robotics and multi-drone coordination.
- Understanding of aviation regulations, UAV safety standards, and remote operations.
Technical Skills - Python
- C++
- ROS / ROS2
- PX4
- ArduPilot
- MAVLink
- OpenCV
- PyTorch
- TensorFlow
- YOLO
- CUDA
- TensorRT
- ONNX Runtime
- Docker
- Linux
- Git
- SLAM
- Visual SLAM (VSLAM)
- Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO)
- NVIDIA Jetson
- MQTT
- REST APIs
- AWS / Azure / Google Cloud Platform (preferred)
Soft Skills - Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
- Attention to detail and operational discipline
- Ability to work in multidisciplinary engineering teams
- Innovation and continuous learning mindset
- Strong debugging and troubleshooting capabilities
Nice to Have - Experience with precision agriculture, aerial surveying, infrastructure inspection, or defense applications
- Knowledge of computer vision for thermal imaging, multispectral imaging, or hyperspectral imaging
- Experience with edge AI optimization, model quantization, and low-latency inference
- Familiarity with drone fleet management, remote mission planning, and autonomous swarm operations
- UAV pilot certification or experience conducting commercial drone operations
- Robotics, AI, cloud, or UAV-related certifications
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) - Autonomous flight success rate
- Object detection and tracking accuracy
- Navigation and obstacle avoidance performance
- Mission completion rate
- Flight stability and system reliability
- AI inference latency and edge device performance
- Reduction in operational failures and manual intervention
- Successful deployment of drone AI capabilities into production
Location Hybrid / Remote / On-site (as applicable)
Employment Type Full-time
