GNC / Autopilot Engineering Manager (All Genders)

Germany

At Stark, we forge the future of European and national security through cutting-edge, AI-driven technology and unmatched engineering precision. As a premier defence technology company, our mission is clear: to equip NATO Allies and their partners with next-generation autonomous defence platforms and advanced AI-driven software built to perform in the worlds most demanding environments.

We believe that true security stems from relentless innovation. By combining elite engineering talent with agile technology and an AI-native operational culture, Stark turns complex defence challenges into field-tested, multi-domain solutions.

WHY JOIN US

• The software and systems you work on directly protect personnel and defend European and national sovereignty.
• You will work alongside industry-leading minds on autonomous systems, advanced propulsion, and secure cyber platforms.
• We foster a fast-paced, collaborative environment where bold ideas are supported by serious R&D backing.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Our engineering team designs and builds cutting-edge autonomous platforms and AI-driven systems operating in demanding, contested environments. We focus on high reliability, rapid innovation, and cross-functional collaboration across hardware, software, and systems engineering. As a core member of our engineering organization, you will play a pivotal role in shaping our navigation and control architecture while growing an elite team of engineers.

YOUR MISSION

You will own the flight control and navigation stack that keeps our autonomous platforms stable, predictable, and precise — from first power-on to final approach (GNC = Guidance, Navigation, Control) . This isnt a maintenance role: youre building the control and state-estimation foundation that every other system on the platform depends on, while growing a team of engineers who can own that responsibility with you. Success looks like a navigation and control stack that performs reliably under the demanding, contested conditions our systems are built for.

WHAT YOU WILL DO AT STARK

• Lead and grow a fast-expanding team of engineers working on flight control, guidance, and state estimation
• Facilitate and execute the technical direction for the STARK autopilot stack: control theory (PID/LQR/MPC), sensor fusion architecture, state estimation (EKF/UKF), and real-time performance
• Partner with hardware, perception, and systems engineering teams to ensure navigation performance holds end-to-end, not just in isolation
• Own technical roadmap planning for your domain and represent it to your Director and cross-functional stakeholders
• Bring software engineering best practices to the team such as the C4 architecture model, clean code principles and software design patterns
• Moderate the peer review process with the team and ensure knowledge sharing and across different seniorities
• Drive hiring, mentoring, and career development for your team as well as ways of working together
• Report on technical risk, schedule, and capacity to leadership
• Drive test and validation strategy, from simulation and HIL testing through live trials

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE MISSION

• 7+ years of software (robotics) engineering experience in the domain of GNC (guidance, navigation, and control)
• 3+ years in a leadership role (Team Lead, Head of, Engineering Manager, or equivalent) with direct people management experience
• Proven track record of deploying robotics software application into production environment

Strong knowledge about the GNC domain

Fluent English; German is a plus

NICE TO HAVE

• Proven track record taking autonomous systems with GNSS-denied navigation system from design to production fielded, flight-tested products
• Experience with PX4, ArduPilot, or comparable open-source autopilot stacks

Background in aerospace, robotics, or MINT programs

• Exposure to systems operating in contested or degraded environments
• Prior experience scaling a technical team in a startup or fast-growing engineering org

Familiarity with MIL-STD or STANAG-aligned development practices

If youre interested in building the future of European Defence with us, and you see yourself reflected on the description above, please send us your CV in English. Were looking forward to meeting you!

SECURITY CLEARANCE

Due to the nature of our work in the defence sector, candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain the appropriate security clearance required for this position. Details will be provided during the recruitment process.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

DATA PRIVACY STATEMENT

This data privacy statement, which refers exclusively to data collected as part of the online application process, is to inform you about how your personal data that is collected as part of the online application process is handled at our end.

The controller

The controller under data protection law is:

SKD SE

• Französische Strasse 12, 10117 Berlin
• Commercial register entry number: HRB 260878

Registration Court: Amtsgericht Charlottenburg

Data Protection officer: heyData GmbH, Schützenstraße 5, 10117 Berlin, www.heydata.eu , datenschutz@heydata.eu

Personal data collected as part of the application process

Personal data means any information concerning the personal or material circumstances of an identified or identifiable individual. This includes information such as, for example, your name, address, telephone number and date of birth, but also data relating to your specific career etc. by reference to which a specific individual can be identified with reasonable effort. However, information which cannot be (in)directly associated with your real-life identity is not personal data.

Fundamentals and purposes of processing personal data collected from application documents and during the application process

If you apply to us electronically, i.e. via e-mail or using our online form, we will collect and process your personal data for the purpose of executing the application process and preparing contracts.

By submitting an application via our recruitment website, you express your interest in taking up work with us. In this context, you transmit personal data, which we will use and store exclusively for the purpose of your job search / application process.

In particular, the following data is collected during this process:

name (first and last names)

• e-mail address
• phone number
• LinkedIn profile (optional)

channel through which you found us

Furthermore, you can choose to upload expressive documents such as a cover letter, your CV and reference letters. These may contain additional personal data such as date of birth, address etc.

Only authorized HR staff and/or staff involved in the application process have access to your data.

The personal data is stored, as a rule, exclusively for the purpose of filling the vacancy for which you have applied.

Your data will be stored for a period of 180 days after the application process has been concluded. This is usually done to fulfill legal requirements and/or defending ourselves against any claims arising from legal provisions. After this period, we are obligated to delete or anonymize your data. In case of anonymization, the data will only be available to us in the form of so-called metadata, without any direct personal reference, for statistical analysis (for example, share of male and/or female applicants, number of applications per specified period of time etc.).

Furthermore, we reserve the right to store your data for 180 days after the application process has been concluded for the purpose of adding it to our Talent Pool in order to identify any other vacancies that may be of interest to you. This includes, for example, applications for apprenticeships or internships. By accepting the data privacy statement, you consent to any further storage of your data as well as its inclusion in our Talent Pool.

Should you be offered and accept a position with us during the application process, we will store the personal data collected as part of the application process for at least the duration of your employment.

Disclosure of data to third parties

Data transmitted as part of your application will be transferred using TLS encryption and stored in a database. This database is operated by Greenhouse, which offers a human resource and applicant management software solution (https://www.greenhouse.com/data-processing-addendum). In this context, Greenhouse is our processor under article 28 of the GDPR. In this case, the processing is based on an agreement for the processing of orders between us as the controller and Greenhouse.

Rights of data subjects

If we as the controller process personal data, you as the data subject have certain rights under Chapter III of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), depending on the legal basis and the purpose of the processing, in particular the right of access (article 15 of the GDPR) and the rights to rectification (article 16 of the GDPR), erasure (article 17 of the GDPR), restriction of processing (article 18 of the GDPR), and data portability (article 20 of the GDPR), as well as the right to object (article 21 of the GDPR). If the personal data is processed with your consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent under article 7 III of the GDPR.

To assert your rights as a data subject in relation to the data processed during this online application process, please refer to our Data Protection Officer (see item 2).

Concluding provisions

We reserve the right to adjust this data privacy statement at any point in time to ensure that it is in line with the current legal requirements at al