Are you a detail-oriented Lead Systems Engineer passionate about autonomous and uncrewed systems like drones?
About Us
At Archangel Autonomy, we deploy AI and robotics to protect service personnel, critical infrastructure, and first responders in large, remote areas. Our mission is to make machines smart enough to become competent teammates instead of just tools, working alongside society’s most exposed workers in remote and challenging locations to protect people, infrastructure, assets and planet at scale.
We're seeking a Lead Systems Engineer ready to make a real impact!
In this role you'll report to the CTO and work with the tech team and Project Manager to drive the design and delivery of innovative UXV co-pilot systems. You’ll define system requirements, architecture, and modelling letting us push the boundaries of autonomous systems.
This position plays a crucial role in delivering reliable, game-changing solutions to end users. Each feature release brings us closer to transforming the future of autonomous technology. This is your opportunity to accelerate your career while shaping the next generation of intelligent systems.
What you’ll do:
Be the design authority for a new UAS product.
Build out system architecture and technical direction for this new product which draws from our existing products but requires complete system definition:
- Define system architecture, CONOPS, and top-level requirements
- Lead technology selection decisions and trade studies
- Establish and manage system performance budgets across subsystems
- Decide on system interfaces and integration strategies
- Serve as technical authority in customer and certification discussions
- Own the technical baseline that informs future product development
Build on and improve our systems engineering practice.
Create a new systems engineering process for our team to use by demonstrating it on the product described above.
- Develop a minimum viable systems engineering practice, balancing rigour and speed
- Implement requirements management and interface control that teams adopt naturally because they see it working
- Pioneer AI-augmented workflows within Systems Engineering
- Help ensure design documentation is coherent, consistent, visible, reviewed and verified in its implementation
- Build traceability frameworks connecting requirements, design and verification
- Guide junior engineers in building systems engineering tools that integrate with developer workflows
To succeed in this role you must have:
- 5+ years in systems engineering for complex systems with full product lifecycle exposure (from concept through to supported products in the field)
- Proven track record of taking design authority and making authoritative technical decisions on complex systems
- Experience shipping real products, ideally with high assurance requirements (e.g. DO-178, DO-254, ISO 26262, or equivalent)
- Experience establishing engineering processes in growing organisations (ideally smaller companies with broad exposure, not narrow areas of work within large organisations)
- Working knowledge of product security standards and quality compliance frameworks (ISO 27001, AS 9100, ISO 9001, etc.)
- Practical, hands-on experience with both hardware and software system integration
- Strong technical judgement to make pragmatic trade-offs, balancing startup speed with necessary rigour
- Demonstrated interest in AI tooling and keenness to pioneer new approaches rather than follow traditional methods
Nice-to-have bonus skills:
Demonstrable experience with drone and UAVs, autonomous systems, or complex systems generally will align well with what we need for this role. Please highlight these in your application or when talking to our team:
Priority 1: Drone/UAV Systems
- Designing drones/UAV systems through full development lifecycle
- Understanding of safety cases, airworthiness standards, and UAV certification processes
- MOD or defence customer experience
- Background in navigation systems, sensor fusion, or perception for autonomous systems
Priority 2: Adjacent Autonomous Systems
- Autonomous vehicles and robotics (Ocado, Arrival, Amazon Robotics, Dyson)
- Missile/weapons systems, with focus on the navigation subsystem
Priority 3: Complex Systems with High Assurance
- Aircraft, aerospace, complex hardware/software systems
- High assurance and safety requirements experience
- Academic/research experience delivering complex navigation systems
- Understanding of model-based systems engineering (MBSE)
By joining us, you'll have:
- The ability to make a measurable difference in the creation of cutting-edge technology in a rapidly growing start-up
- Fast-paced environment with a world-class, positive, talented, and high-achieving team
- Merit-based compensation
- 5% employer pension contribution and pension salary sacrifice schemes
- 25 days holiday + UK bank holidays
- Relocation Support Package
- Team socials
- A variety of perks which evolve frequently: Free Monday team lunch, Cycle2work scheme, Private Medical Insurance, and a yearly voucher for your favourite app
Security clearance
Due to the sensitive nature of some of our work, it would be beneficial for candidates to be able and willing to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for this role.
Location:
At our core, we value the power of in-person interactions and collaborative sessions. Our office in Oxford, UK is not just a workplace it's a hub for team camaraderie and innovation. We have a unique and welcoming environment where team members enjoy taking their lunch together ‘no one left behind’ mentality but high autonomy. We even bring our international team mates over for special events and all-company gatherings.
What's Next?
Excited to join us? Apply now and a member of our HR team will get in touch. The process typically includes a screening call, assessment, and interview. We look forward to hearing from you!
Skills Required
- 5+ years in systems engineering for complex systems
- Proven track record making authoritative technical decisions
- Experience shipping products with high assurance requirements
- Experience establishing engineering processes in growing organizations
- Working knowledge of product security standards and compliance frameworks
- Practical experience with hardware and software integration
- Strong technical judgement for trade-offs
- Interest in AI tooling and pioneering new approaches
- Experiential skills designing drones/UAV systems
- Understanding of safety cases and UAV certification processes
- Background in navigation systems for autonomous systems
Archangel Imaging Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Archangel Imaging and has not been reviewed or approved by Archangel Imaging.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Perks like paid Monday team lunch, 24/7 snacks and drinks, monthly socials, an annual retreat, and wellness/app subscriptions are highlighted. Cycle-to-work options, and occasional tech gear such as a VR headset or drone, indicate added lifestyle value and team cohesion.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays and a paid volunteering day are explicitly listed. These time-off provisions suggest tangible support for rest and community engagement.
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Healthcare Strength — UK postings indicate private medical insurance as part of the package. This points to core health coverage in at least some locations or roles.
Archangel Imaging Insights
What We Do
Archangel Imaging deploys smart machines alongside people to protect valuable assets and at-risk staff in remote or challenging places. Remote operations are difficult. Whether you are operating drone patrols over marine reserves or monitoring static energy infrastructure, your ability to succeed depends on the supporting infrastructure used to coordinate any response. Today’s machines are still mostly tools, not team mates. Our smart devices can be retrofitted to other machines to make them smarter and more resilient in a changing environment, independent from any infrastructure. Our Argonaut™ AI cameras watch for poachers in Africa, oil thieves in South America or potential suicides on the European railways. Our GENIE™ navigation units enable any drone to independently navigate and complete missions without GPS signals. We use the Cerebella™ mission management platform to gather best-in-class machines from an ever-increasing catalogue of partners and to integrate them into a human-centred workflow. Cerebella™ allows humans, AI, satellite analytics, robots, drones and IoT sensors to work together as part of a combined team in complex missions. These hybrid teams can respond faster and more effectively to safety or security threats over large remote areas. Whether it’s cables being stolen, oil being tapped or elephants poached for ivory, we provide the ability for the security team to know before these incidents about to happen and immediately intervene or follow up. Interested in joining our team? Check our vacancies at https://archangelgroup.breezy.hr/
