Senior Integration Engineer, USV Payloads

Position Summary Blue Ops, the maritime division of Red Cat Holdings (Nasdaq: RCAT), is a U.S.

-based developer of advanced Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) systems purpose-built for defense and national security missions. Operating from our 11,400 sq. ft. innovation facility in West Palm Beach, FL, with production at our Valdosta, GA manufacturing hub, Blue Ops delivers a modular, scalable family of USV weapon systems, the Variant 5, Variant 7, and Variant 11, designed to meet the evolving operational needs of the U.S. Government and allied partners.

As part of Red Cat Holdings' all-domain unmanned ecosystem alongside Teal Drones (sUAS) and Flight Wave Aerospace (VTOL UAS), Blue Ops is uniquely positioned to deliver integrated, cross-domain unmanned capabilities from a single, American-made vendor. We are a fast-moving, mission-driven company where engineers have direct impact on fielded systems, and where your work shows up on the water.

Blue Ops is seeking a Senior Integration Engineer to own the end-to-end payload integration lifecycle across the Blue Ops USV family of systems. You will be responsible for the design, development, installation, and test validation of both vendor-supplied and internally developed Red Cat payloads, spanning ISR sensors, communications, weapons systems interfaces, counter-UAS systems, and mission-specific hardware. This role sits at the intersection of systems engineering, hands-on integration, and cross-functional program management, and is critical to ensuring our USVs are mission-ready before they reach U.S. Government customers.

You will serve as the primary technical liaison between external payload vendors, internal Red Cat/Blue Ops engineering teams, and cross-functional stakeholders, translating power, communications, mechanical, and data interface requirements into clean integration designs, and building custom acceptance test plans that prove out readiness prior to customer demonstrations and fielding.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities Payload Integration Leadership Own the full payload integration lifecycle, from initial vendor engagement and requirements capture through design, installation, test execution, and customer demonstration support, for all Blue Ops USV variants (V5, V7, V11).Lead mechanical, electrical, and software integration of payloads onto USV platforms including EO/IR cameras, radar systems, communications suites (RF, SATCOM, mesh networking), weapon station interfaces, C-UAS payloads, and Red Cat-family sUAS/VTOL systems.

Develop, maintain, and enforce Interface Control Documents (ICDs) defining power, physical envelope, data/communications, and control interface requirements between USV platforms and integrated payloads.

Identify and resolve integration conflicts across subsystems, electrical interference, structural mounting constraints, thermal loading, power budget impacts, and data link conflicts, early in the design cycle.

Coordinate hardware configuration management (CM) across integrated payloads; maintain accurate as-built documentation for each USV hull.

Vendor & Stakeholder Management Serve as the primary technical point of contact (POC) with third-party payload vendors, managing technical correspondence, interface data requests, schedule coordination, and integration readiness reviews.

Conduct vendor capability assessments and support make/buy/integrate decisions in coordination with the Director of Technology and Program Management.

Liaise between payload vendors, Blue Ops mechanical/electrical engineers, autonomy software teams, and the Red Cat family-of-systems (FoS) team to ensure system-level compatibility and mission alignment.

Support procurement and contracting teams by contributing technical requirements to SOWs, CDRLs, and vendor agreements related to payload integration.

Maintain a payload vendor registry with integration status, ICD revision history, and open technical action items.

Test Planning & Validation Author and execute custom Integration Test Plans (ITPs), Acceptance Test Procedures (ATPs), and Test Reports for each integrated payload and USV variant configuration.

Design bench-level integration rigs and lab environments for pre-vessel payload checkout, reducing vessel time and integration risk.

Lead dockside and at-sea integration validation events; support live water demonstrations for USG customers, program offices, and allied partners.

Define and track test metrics, pass/fail criteria, and deficiency reporting against system-level performance requirements.

Support failure analysis and corrective action root cause (RCCA) efforts arising from integration test discrepancies or field observations.

Systems Engineering & Documentation Translate mission and operational requirements from USG customers and program offices into payload integration requirements, traceable from system-level Con Ops down to ICD specifications.

Maintain a payload requirements traceability matrix (RTM) linking customer requirements to design decisions and…