Forward Deployed Engineer

As a Forward Deployed Engineer at Auterion, you will sit at the front line of our most ambitious sales engagements, working directly with defence and commercial customers to design, demonstrate and deploy autonomy solutions built on AuterionOS. This is a hands-on, flight-line role: you will build, fly and troubleshoot drone systems in front of customers, translate operational requirements into technical solutions, and give our sales and mission development teams the credibility to win the largest and most complex programmes. You will bring real, practical experience of building and flying unmanned aircraft, ideally on PX4 or ArduPilot, combined with a strong grounding in avionics or aeronautical engineering. This is not a desk-bound pre-sales role. You will be expected to get your hands dirty integrating payloads, tuning autopilots, running test flights and solving problems live in front of customers and partners. Responsibilities and Duties • Act as the lead technical authority in customer engagements, translating mission requirements into concrete system architectures and demonstrable solutions built on AuterionOS and Skynode. • Build, configure, integrate and fly drone platforms using PX4 or ArduPilot to support customer trials, technical demonstrations and proof-of-concept deployments. • Design and deliver technical demonstrations, flight trials and integration proofs that showcase AuterionOS capability against customer and NATO/defence requirements. • Provide deep avionics and airframe expertise, including autopilot tuning, sensor and payload integration, power systems and airworthiness considerations. • Partner with the sales and business development team to shape bids, technical proposals and RFI/RFP responses, ensuring solutions are credible, deployable and differentiated. • Diagnose and resolve technical issues in the field during customer trials and demonstrations, working across flight stack, hardware and software layers. • Build strong relationships with customer engineers and operators, acting as a trusted technical advisor throughout the sales cycle and into deployment. • Feed customer and market requirements back into product and engineering teams to influence the AuterionOS roadmap. • Support test activities, exhibitions, customer visits and operational deployments across the UK and NATO ecosystem, including significant travel. • Produce clear technical documentation, solution architectures and integration guidance to support bids and deployments. Qualifications and Skills • Demonstrable hands-on experience building and flying drones, ideally using PX4 or ArduPilot. • Proven hands on experience with C++, Docker & Linux. • Strong background in avionics, aeronautical engineering or a related discipline, with practical understanding of airframes, autopilots, sensors and payload integration. • Experience working with MAVLink, ground control stations and flight test procedures. • Proven ability to operate as a technical lead in front of customers, including live demonstrations and field troubleshooting. • Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical detail into clear, compelling customer-facing narratives. • Experience supporting sales, business development or pre-sales engineering functions is highly desirable. • Degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Avionics, Electronics, Physics or a related engineering discipline preferred. • Comfortable with frequent travel and field deployment, including to customer and partner sites across the UK and NATO nations. • UK citizenship and eligibility for UK security clearance required. Benefits • Flexible working hours • Stock Options • Generous holiday allowance • Company pension plan • Mental health and wellbeing support • Regular team social events About Auterion We are building the leading software platform for AI-powered autonomous systems for enterprise and government customers. Our team is supporting the most important missions and solving the most challenging problems. At Auterion, we bring together the sharpest minds who love to solve the hardest problems. Join a vibrant team built on innovation, openness, and excellence, where you’ll be empowered to develop ideas, collaborate across all levels, and make an impact that matters.