Own electronic hardware end to end, from schematic to validated design in operational use.
Minerva Defence is one of the fastest-growing defence technology companies in Europe. We create the software, hardware and networking that make unmanned systems effective on the modern battlefield, all ideated, designed and manufactured end-to-end in the UK, and in active use today. We are deliberately low-profile: a team of around 70, small in headcount and outsized in effect. We look for people who are not just talented but genuinely committed to the work, the team, and the purpose behind it.
You will take electronic hardware from a blank schematic through prototyping, test and debug to a validated design that performs reliably in the field. You will set the standard as you go: writing the procedures, defining the review process, and growing a small team around you. Designs reach operational use within months.
Responsibilities
- Design analog and digital circuits, and produce the schematics behind them
- Take hardware from first prototype through testing and debug to a validated design
- Lead PCB layout reviews for signal integrity, EMI/EMC, and manufacturability
- Own power design: DC-DC, LDO, and battery and charging systems
- Own the BOM, documentation, and revision control, including engineering change orders
- Support manufacturing, production, and suppliers as designs go to build
- Work alongside firmware, mechanical, and systems engineers to make the whole system perform
Requirements
Minimum:
- Experience designing analog and digital electronic circuits, from schematic through to validated hardware
- Strong hands-on lab and debugging skills: oscilloscope, DMM, logic analyser, soldering and rework
- Power electronics experience: regulators, protection, battery and charging systems
- A track record of component selection and BOM ownership, balancing availability, cost, and alternates
- Eligible for UK SC clearance (UK citizen or 5+ years UK residency)
- Willing to work on site in our offices in the West Midlands at least three days a week
Preferred:
- PCB layout experience and a working grasp of EMI/EMC and ESD reliability
- Experience taking hardware through manufacturing and into production
- Experience mentoring or coaching engineers and establishing processes and standards within a growing team
- Evidence of hands-on engineering interests outside work: cars, 3D printers, robotics
- An interest in aerospace or aviation
Benefits
We offer competitive compensation including;
- Share options vesting over three years
- Bupa private medical insurance
- 6% employer pension contribution
- 25 days leave plus bank holidays
- Enhanced mat/pat leave
- Enterprise level AI tooling
- Relocation support/home office budget
Skills Required
- Experience designing analog and digital electronic circuits from schematic through validated hardware
- Hands-on laboratory and debugging experience using oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, logic analyzers, soldering, and rework
- Power electronics experience, including regulators, protection, batteries, and charging systems
- Experience selecting components and owning BOMs while balancing availability, cost, and alternatives
- Eligible for UK SC security clearance through UK citizenship or at least five years of UK residency
- Willingness to work onsite in the West Midlands at least three days per week
- PCB layout experience and understanding of EMI/EMC and ESD reliability
- Experience taking hardware through manufacturing and into production
- Experience mentoring or coaching engineers and establishing processes and standards
- Hands-on engineering interests outside work, such as cars, 3D printers, or robotics
- Interest in aerospace or aviation
What We Do
Minerva Defence is a UK sovereign defence-technology company building full-stack unmanned systems for modern warfare. Its capabilities span hardware, software, networking, autonomy, navigation and effectors; it also designs and manufactures uncrewed aerial systems in the UK. The company describes its mission as supplying sovereign defence technology built in Britain for the UK and its allies, with operational deployment and real-time frontline feedback informing its work.
