UAV Test & Validation Engineer

Asset Cool is looking for a UAV Flight Test & Validation Engineer to own the end-to-end testing and validation of our in-house developed UAV systems. You will define test strategies, lead indoor and outdoor flight campaigns, assess system readiness and ensure that decisions are backed by clear, traceable evidence.

This role is for someone who genuinely loves flying and is equally at home planning a safe experiment, piloting an aircraft and investigating a difficult technical fault. You will work at the intersection of propulsion, flight control, navigation, avionics, autonomy and regulatory compliance. Please note that this role will require quite a bit of field based work.

• Own the UAV verification and validation lifecycle: test strategies, requirement traceability, test plans and cases, acceptance criteria, readiness reviews and final reports.
• Plan and lead safe indoor and outdoor ground and flight testing of in-house platforms and integrated payloads, coordinating sites, crew, equipment, weather and airspace.
• Design experiments to characterise performance, endurance, handling, robustness and failure behaviour across propulsion, control, navigation, communications, power and payload subsystems.
• Configure and operate PX4 and Ardu Pilot systems end to end: airframe setup, sensor calibration, parameters, flight modes, failsafes, geofencing, telemetry, logging and ground-control-station configuration.
• Diagnose faults across subsystem boundaries: propulsion and powertrain (motors, ESCs, props, batteries, thrust, thermal, vibration); flight control (stability, tuning, actuator limits, control allocation, mode transitions, failsafes); and navigation and state estimation (IMUs, GNSS, compasses, barometers, RTK, sensor fusion, estimator health).
• Develop supporting test methods, instrumentation and rigs, including bench and propulsion tests, data acquisition and SITL/HITL testing where appropriate.
• Own test records, configuration baselines, flight logs, anomalies and evidence. Analyse log data, identify root causes, communicate findings and verify corrective actions.
• Run flight-readiness reviews, safety briefings and post-flight debriefs, and maintain accurate checklists, risk assessments, occurrence records and test documentation.
• Support regulatory compliance, operational authorisations and certification by defining suitable tests, maintaining auditable evidence and contributing to safety cases, manuals and technical submissions.

• A degree, HND/HNC or equivalent practical experience in aerospace, avionics, control, robotics, mechatronics or a related discipline.
• Proven hands‑on experience testing, operating and troubleshooting multirotor or other UAS in real flight environments.
• Strong practical expertise with both PX4 and Ardu Pilot across the full workflow: new airframe through calibration, parameterisation, flight modes, failsafes, mission setup and log retrieval. Confident with QGround
  
  Control, Mission Planner and MAVLink telemetry.
• Strong grasp of UAV propulsion, flight dynamics, feedback control, tuning and actuator behaviour, with the ability to isolate faults across mechanical, electrical and software boundaries.
• Good understanding of navigation and estimation fundamentals: inertial sensing, GNSS, magnetometers, barometers, coordinate frames, sensor fusion and EKF diagnostics.
• Able to analyse PX4 ULog and Ardu Pilot Data Flash logs, define useful metrics and turn test data into clear engineering conclusions.
• A disciplined approach to experimental design, configuration control, risk management, test documentation and evidence-based sign-off.
• Working knowledge of UAV flight safety and the UK UAS regulatory environment, with the judgement…