Robotics & Control Engineer

You want to help build Europe’s resilience. You want to protect people and critical infrastructure ultimately saving the lives of thousands. You want to work at the frontier of high-performance autonomous systems. Join us at CDDS to bring next-generation control guidance and state-estimation algorithms into high-speed kinetic interceptor drones.

Core Responsibilities:

• Designing and validating low-latency guidance and control strategies in Python based simulation environments before porting them to high-performance C/Rust
• Developing multi-sensor fusion algorithms for state estimation including uncertainty modelling and robust gating under latency asynchronous updates and drift
• Investigating MPC and reinforcement-learning-based strategies for trajectory generation and interception point control
• Modelling aerodynamic effects and motor dynamics
• Maintaining simulation pipelines (Docker GPU-accelerated dev-containers)
• Adapting and extending the PX4 autopilot stack for custom interceptor behaviour
• Running HIL tests and profiling system performance
• Conducting real world flight experiments analysing data and evaluating performance and failure modes

Your Profile
We are looking for people who thrive on mathematical depth rapid iteration and hands-on flight testing. You take full ownership of your subsystem from modelling to real-world validation.

Required

• PhD or MSc in Robotics Control Engineering Computer Science or similar field with strong academic record (ETH Zürich or equivalent preferred)
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to derive evaluate and validate models
• Deep understanding of:
  • Classical & optimal control
  • Kalman filtering and State Estimation
  • Linear algebra (Rotations and transformations in SE(3))
• Proficiency in Python and C
• Comfortable in fast-paced high-ownership environments

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with:
  • ROS2 PX4 and real-time robotics software
  • MPC RL trajectory optimization
  • Computer vision and Event-cameras
  • Fast-moving object interception / high-dynamics control
  • Simulation Frameworks like Gazebo or Isaac Sim
• Background in drone flight testing or competitive robotics

Why CDDS

• Direct impact on a mission-critical technology shaping Europe’s security landscape
• Fast-moving startup environment with high ownership
• Work with a highly technical ambitious and hands-on team
• Real-world testing deployments and customer demonstrations
• Attractive compensation

Details

• Location:
  
  Schlieren (Zürich) on-site
• Start date:
  
  March or tbd
• Environment:
  Rapidly growing deep-tech startup high-impact mission

We are looking for an exceptional Robotics & Control Engineer to drive the control stack of our interceptor drone platform. You will architect and implement state-estimation and control algorithms that directly determine successful target interception taking them from Python-based simulation to robust deployable C / Rust systems.

You will work closely with perception embedded simulation and hardware experts ensuring your algorithms translate directly into field performance.