Job Description:
At Airbus UpNext, we fly future technologies at speeds well beyond what seems feasible today. We're looking for passionate individuals to join a new demonstrator project that will shape the future of autonomous flight, enabling safe operations of UAS (Uncrewed Aerial Systems) in the most challenging operational contexts and paving the way for effective collaboration between crewed and uncrewed aircraft in complex missions.
This project will focus on the integration and testing of emerging airborne technologies that will enable UAS to fly their missions with a high degree of autonomy in challenging conditions. Advanced hardware and software architectures will be explored to facilitate the deployment of such technologies in both rotary wing and fixed wing UAS platforms with the highest degree of commonality and reuse.
As part of a fast-paced, agile team, you will leverage the latest advances in airborne sensors, data connectivity, embedded computing and software algorithms, to develop an architecture for assured autonomy that can be deployable across different UAS platforms. Your mission will be to enable UAS to intelligently react to unforeseen situations and adverse external conditions, so as to preserve the integrity of the flight and achieve its operational objectives. This capability will enable complex missions involving crewed aircraft and UAS operating in a coordinated manner, with the UAS autonomously adapting to unplanned events and unexpected changes in the external conditions, e.g., such as in aerial firefighting or complex search and rescue operations.
If you have a burning desire to make an impact and want to work in a startup-like environment backed by the strength of Airbus, this is your opportunity to help us enable uncrewed aircraft to fly the most challenging missions anytime, anywhere.
The Technical Director (M/F) position is within Airbus UpNext and it consists of a fixed-term contract of 3 years ( linked to the delivrable of the demonstrartor), starting ASAP till end of October, 2028
Mission
Your main tasks and responsibilities will include:
Reporting directly to the Head of Demonstrator, you will act as the ultimate technical authority, providing overarching engineering leadership and vision to the team developing flight autonomy solutions for UAS through disruptive exploration.
Your primary responsibility will be to provide unified technical direction and ensure coherence across all engineering domains of the project. Passionate and impatient about flight autonomy technologies, you will lead the integration and testing of new solutions to bring crucial learnings into the business based on evidence from flight tests. You are the type of person who thinks about “how things can be done” rather than “whether they can be done”.
Your main tasks will include:
Technical Baseline & Architecture Management:
Establish and control the project’s complete Engineering Baseline.
Drive the project’s technical development milestones: Development Plans, Specifications, PDR, CDR, etc.
Own the overall system architecture, lead critical technology benchmarking and trade studies to inform key technical decisions and manage the engineering change control and technical risk management processes.
Technical Objectives & Coordination:
Lead the break-down of the Top Project Objectives and related stakeholders needs into a complete, consistent, and verifiable set of technical requirements to feed the development team, ensuring all technical activities are aligned with them.
Coordinate the technical strategy and activities across all key areas of the project: technology benchmarking, research on autonomy architectures, common architecture design and development, integration activities, test means definition (simulation platforms, test benches, flight test assets) and planning and oversight of testing operations, including flight tests in coordination with the relevant Airbus teams.
Identify and manage competence needs and gaps across the team.
System Safety, Verification & Validation:
Define & manage the project’s complete Verification & Validation plan to ensure all technical requirements are successfully met.
Oversee the end-to-end Integration of all systems, up to their operation in the flight tests
Lead the functional Safety Management across all domains, ensuring a robust approach to hazard analysis and mitigation.
Knowledge Capitalization & Handover:
Drive the analysis and capitalization of all technical data, ensuring a complete and valuable technical Handover of all project learnings and operational assets at FPR.
Your boarding pass
What you bring:
Extensive background and deep expertise in UAS and their subsystems, including avionics, Guidance, Navigation and Control, computing platforms, sensors, and communications.
Demonstrated expertise in architecting complex, software-intensive aerospace systems, preferably using a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach.
Proven leadership experience in a complex systems engineering environment, with a strong command of requirements management, system integration and V&V methodologies.
Demonstrated ability to lead milti-disciplinary engineering teams, manage technical risks and make critical decisions in a fast-paced, agile R&T environment.
A holistic, "big picture" systems thinking mindset with strong synthesis capacity and ability to translate high-level objectives (TPOs) into a concrete technical roadmap and complete set of detailed requirements.
Strong English communication skills to champion the project’s technical vision to stakeholders and sponsors.
Well-built professional network including industrial players, research institutes, government agencies and regulators.
Values of transparency, humility & empathy. Autonomy, adaptability, availability & accountability.
Readiness to step out of your comfort zone. Willingness to have fun.
What you get:
Pivotal Role in a Strategic Mission: play a key part in a project at the forefront of the development of technology to enable autonomous UAS flight and open the way for complex crewed-uncrewed collaborative missions.
Build Something that last: Your work will create a high-value asset 💎 and learning contribution for Airbus’s future.
Develop Critical Competences: Acquire and develop a sound background in flight autonomy systems and technologies, a field essential for the future of aerospace. This experience can provide a unique career development opportunity within Airbus.
Work on the Edge of Technology: Explore disruptive technologies at their limits, deepening your knowledge of advanced airborne hardware and software to enable safe and resilient autonomous flight.
Agile and Empowering Environment: Thrive in a work culture that empowers you to act and think like a start-up while being supported by the strong expertise of Airbus. 💪🏻 We value an eagerness to take initiative and propose efficient ways of working.
A Great Team and Culture: Be part of a high-achieving, experienced and fun team in a shared open-space office with highly skilled colleagues. We are guided by the “Care for Each Other” value.
Flexibility & Fun: Enjoy the ability to craft your calendar 🗓️ with flexible hours and the opportunity to work remotely, alongside regular UpNext community bonding events. And yes, we have complimentary freshly ground coffee ☕ and beverages 🧃
The responsibilities and the technical scope of the job might evolve according to the agile working environment of the project, so being flexible is important.
About us
Founded in 2017, Airbus UpNext focuses on flying future technologies at speeds well beyond what seems feasible today. In doing so, it is actively shaping the future of the aerospace industry.
Designed as a talent incubator, Airbus UpNext is a place where you can act and think like a startup while building on the strong expertise of Airbus, a place where you are empowered to test & challenge new processes and ways of working.
Airbus UpNext’s demonstrators evaluate, mature and validate potential new products and services that encompass radical technological breakthroughs. It has three flagships locations in France, Germany and Spain, to rapidly develop and test future technologies in scaled applications.
Our mission is:
To identify the trends that could disrupt the future of the aerospace industry and evaluate them to demonstrate their potential as a viable product.
To accelerate traditional research cycles and prototype development to achieve proof of concept in a real environment and at a convincing scale and speed.
To develop real-world applications for emerging aerospace technologies, thereby driving their maturity and increasing their value.
To be THE reference for Technology Value Assessment
Our Values: #Keep it Simple #Be Audacious #Exploring Together
Our DNA: #Speed of Execution, #Caring for Each Other, #Open to the World
This job requires an awareness of any potential compliance risks and a commitment to act with integrity, as the foundation for the Company’s success, reputation and sustainable growth.
Company:
Airbus UpNext S.L.Employment Type:
Fixed term-------
Experience Level:
ProfessionalJob Family:
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