Autonomy Engineer, Interceptor Drones

We are Jasper and Alessandro, the founders of Impact Drones (YC S26). We are hiring an autonomy engineer for our Warsaw team to make our interceptor drones fly the intercept on their own: from a radar track, to the onboard camera, to a net catch. Jasper (aerospace engineer, MSc, TU Delft) has built drones for over a decade, including the Hannover Messe VTOL competition winner, and worked with special forces on the 2025 NATO Summit counter-drone plan; Alessandro (MSc, Columbia) built the pipeline behind our 176M USD in signed LOIs.

In March 2026, Iranian drones struck three AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain. Fiber-optic FPV drones cannot be jammed. The only thing that stops them is a physical intercept. That is what we build.

About Impact Drones
We sell Air Defense as a Service to civilian critical infrastructure. One container on site senses, decides and launches our interceptors: HUNTER, a kinetic quadcopter in combat in Ukraine against Shahed-class drones; WEAVER, which catches drones intact in a net; and SABLE, our turbojet interceptor.

What you will own

• Intercept guidance and control on WEAVER: from a radar cue to the catch.
• Onboard target detection, tracking and lock-on with EO and thermal cameras.
• Simulation, bench and flight tests that prove each change.

Your first 3 months

• Month one: your first guidance or control change flies on WEAVER at the range.
• Month two: your onboard tracker locks a target drone in flight and hands it to guidance.
• Month three: your guidance flies an autonomous intercept from a radar cue, ending in a WEAVER net catch.

What you bring

• Guidance, navigation or control code you wrote that flew on a real vehicle.
• Strong C++ on embedded or real-time systems.
• Solid GNC and state estimation fundamentals.
• You debug from flight logs, not only from simulation.

Bonus points

• You fly FPV, and have worked in PX4, ArduPilot or Betaflight source.
• Computer vision on embedded hardware.
• Interceptor, missile or counter-UAS experience.

Compensation

• Base salary: PLN 20,000 to 26,000 gross a month, on an employment contract (umowa o pracę).
• Equity: 0.08% to 0.20% in stock options, 4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff.
• Start: January 2027, or when your notice ends.

Where we work
On-site in Warsaw with Jasper and the team, plus flight tests at outdoor ranges in Poland. We work in English; you do not need Polish.

How to apply
Apply here and answer the one question on the form: the best guidance, control or autonomy result you flew, plus a link if you can share it. We read every application ourselves.

Jasper and Alessandro

You need the right to work in Poland when you start. Some tasks may need a security check where Polish law requires it.

Impact Drones is an equal opportunity employer. We use your application only for this hiring round, then delete it unless you let us keep it.