Lead Drone Design and Integration Engineer | UAS and Autonomous Systems

XCaliber Technologies is building the next generation of autonomous air defense. We develop integrated Counter UAS systems combining autonomy, sensing, command and control, and purpose built aircraft to detect, track, and defeat evolving aerial threats at machine speed and at scale.

At XCaliber, the connection between your work and the mission is direct. You will build systems whose performance can shape outcomes on the battlefield, protect people, and strengthen national security.

We are looking for a Lead Drone Design and Integration Engineer to own the design, architecture, and vehicle level integration of our unmanned aircraft platforms.

This is a deeply hands on technical leadership role. You will take aircraft from early concepts to flight proven systems while driving engineering decisions across airframe, propulsion, power, avionics, sensing, communications, payloads, and manufacturing.

You will be responsible for making the aircraft work as a complete system, balancing performance, weight, endurance, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and development speed.

• Own aircraft architecture and vehicle integration from initial requirements through prototype development, flight testing, iteration, and production.
• Define aircraft configurations, subsystem requirements, and major interfaces across airframe, propulsion, power, avionics, sensors, communications, and payloads.
• Drive aircraft level engineering tradeoffs across weight, center of gravity, speed, endurance, payload capacity, reliability, and cost.
• Lead component selection and mechanical, electrical, and hardware and software integration across the complete aircraft.
• Establish and manage key aircraft constraints and budgets, including mass, center of gravity, power, thermal performance, and payload capacity.
• Drive prototype builds, ground and flight testing, troubleshooting, failure investigation, and rapid design iteration.
• Use engineering analysis, test data, and flight results to validate performance and guide vehicle level design decisions.
• Lead design, integration, and flight readiness reviews while coordinating multidisciplinary engineering work and resolving problems across aircraft subsystems.
• Guide aircraft from rapid prototypes toward reliable, repeatable, and manufacturable production hardware.

• Strong hands on experience designing, building, and integrating unmanned aircraft systems, aircraft systems, or closely related autonomous vehicles, with demonstrated ownership through prototype development and testing.
• Ability to define aircraft architecture, subsystem interfaces, and engineering requirements, and make practical tradeoffs across performance, weight, power, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and technical risk.
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and practical CAD capability, with experience turning designs into working hardware.
• Solid understanding of aircraft performance, flight dynamics, and the integration of airframe, propulsion, power, avionics, sensors, communications, and onboard computing.
• Experience integrating hardware and software and troubleshooting issues across aircraft subsystems, including flight controls, electrical systems, avionics, and communications.
• Experience planning and conducting ground and flight tests, using engineering analysis and test data to identify problems, validate performance, and improve designs.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical decisions and coordinate multidisciplinary engineering efforts while remaining directly involved in design, builds, troubleshooting, and field testing.
• A degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Experience taking aircraft or complex robotic hardware from prototype toward repeatable manufacturing and production.
• Familiarity with autopilot platforms such as PX4 or Ardu Pilot, and programming or scripting skills such as Python or C/C++ for testing, analysis, or integration.
• Additional depth in electric propulsion, aircraft controls, composite structures, lightweight design, modeling and simulation, radio frequency systems, or payload integration.
• Experience with multirotor, fixed wing, or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
• Experience in defense or counter drone applications is valuable but not required.