Senior UAV Prototyping Engineer (all genders)

About Us STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionizing the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop and manufacture high performance unmanned aerial and terrestrial systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost effective. This provides our operators with a decisive edge in highly contested environments. We’re focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems—not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe—today. Your mission We're not looking for someone who executes a spec. We're looking for someone who becomes the spec. Hand this person a napkin sketch, a rough idea, or a "we need something that can do X" — and they come back with a flying prototype, not a slide deck explaining why it's hard. This role exists for the person who's been building things in a garage, a workshop, or a shed for years because they couldn't not — and who's ready to point that obsession at Europe's defence capability instead of the next hobby build. Responsibilities • Take a concept from clean sheet to flying hardware — concept, design, fabrication, integration, first flight — with minimal hand-holding. • Set the technical approach when working across disciplines, and resolve design conflicts directly instead of escalating them. • Run field flight test campaigns: own the go/no-go call, diagnose failures fast, and decide whether it's a fix or a redesign. • Turn "I just know how to do this" knowledge into documentation other engineers can actually build from. • Unblock and mentor junior and mid-level engineers in design reviews and builds — no management title required. • Flag technical, schedule, or process risk before anyone asks — silence isn't a strategy here. • Iterate fast on field and test data without waiting for a retro to tell you what broke. Qualifications • A track record of owning a full build cycle — concept to flight-tested prototype — independently, on at least one UAV/UGV or comparable platform. • Deep, hands-on experience with composites, mechanical assemblies, robotics, and embedded hardware — earned in a workshop, not from a manual. • Sound judgment under ambiguity and time pressure: you know what's good-enough-to-test versus good-enough-to-deploy without being told. • Strong independent root-cause diagnosis — you can stare at a cracked airframe or a bad flight log and get to a fix without senior sign-off. • Experience working across engineering disciplines and resolving competing technical requirements yourself. • A demonstrated instinct for mentoring or technically leading others, even informally. • A portfolio that proves it: personal builds, competition entries, workshop projects — anything that shows you've been engineering as a calling, not just a job, during and after hours. Nice to have • Active A2/A3 drone pilot certification or equivalent national licence. • CAD fluency (Fusion 360, SolidWorks) strong enough to set standards for others, not just finish your own files. • Debugging-level familiarity with flight controller ecosystems (PX4, ArduPilot, Betaflight) — not just configuration. • Fixed-wing experience, not just multirotor. • A background in competition, motorsport, or maker culture that grew into leading a build or owning a program end-to-end. If you´re interested in building the future of European Defence with us, and you see yourself reflected on the description above, please send us your Portfolio & CV in English. We´re looking forward to meeting you!