Senior Hardware Engineer

About Seeing Systems

Modular AI-Commanded Drones for Defence

Tech

Python, Rust, OCaml, ROS, AirSim, World Models, MAVLink, SLAM

The role

## **About Us**> Seeing Systems is building autonomous drone systems that can perceive, navigate, and act intelligently in complex real-world environments.We’re **advancing autonomy** through monocular vision, sensor fusion, and robust system design — drones that keep working where traditional systems fail, supported by an agentic stack that reduces operator cognitive load.Our first product is an **FPV-class drone** built from the ground up with a **modular hardware architecture**. If we get the first platform right, we can move fast on everything else: larger airframes, longer range, new payloads, and new mission profiles without rebuilding the stack each time.We were founded by brothers **Matthew and Alexander Le Maitre**. Matthew is a former Jane Street engineer and Cambridge CS graduate with a background in autonomous systems research. Alexander is a self-taught hardware engineer who has been building unmanned systems and military-grade electronics.We’re an early-stage, fast-moving team working at the intersection of robotics, perception, and real-world deployment. We iterate weekly. We test in real environments.---## **The Role**You will own hardware at Seeing Systems from first schematic to flying systems in the field.That means **designing the electronics** and the physical systems around them: flight controllers, motor drivers, RF circuits, power systems, sensor boards, payload boards, frames, enclosures, mounts, packaging, and ground station hardware. You’ll take ownership of the whole stack and turn blank-schematic ideas into reliable products that work outside the lab.This is a **founding hardware role**. You won’t just design boards — you’ll own them through bring-up, flight testing, iteration, and production. You’ll help define the modular architecture we scale from, so every new platform builds on the last instead of starting over.You’ll **work** **directly with Alex** on hardware architecture, set technical direction, and grow into the leader of the hardware team as we scale.**Within 30 days:** you’ve brought up your first custom board and flown it on one of our drones.\**Within 90 days:** you will have completed the first production-ready revision of our modular flight controller and integrated it into our alpha airframe---## **What You'll Do*** **Design PCBs** end-to-end: flight controllers, motor drivers, RF and antenna boards, power distribution, BMS, sensor boards, and payload boards.* **Own schematic capture**, multi-layer layout, bring-up, debug, signal and power integrity, and EMI/EMC.* **Build the physical system** around the electronics: enclosures, mounts, thermal solutions, airframe integration, and ground station hardware.* **Own RF and wireless subsystems:** telemetry, video downlink, and command & control, including antenna integration and range testing in poor conditions and optimise for high-interference electronic warfare environments.* **Define system architecture** and translate block diagrams into functional products.* **Work with manufacturers** and suppliers on cost, yield, reliability, and manufacturability.* **Use AI tools** to accelerate design, firmware, and debug.* **Help define engineering culture**, tools, and the hardware team behind you.---## **What We're Looking For*** A track record of taking hardware from blank page to manufactured units that work in the field, or a portfolio of personal builds that proves you can do it.* Strong PCB design skills in Altium or KiCad.* Deep grounding in analog, digital, and power electronics.* Real RF/wireless design experience.* Comfortable with the gap between “works on the bench” and “works at range in the field.”* Bias toward shipping.* Comfortable getting outside and testing in the real world with us.---## **Nice to Have*** Defence, aerospace, or UAV industry experience.* Personal experience building and flying drones, robots, or other unmanned systems.* Embedded work with STM32-class MCUs and protocols such as SPI, I2C, UART, USB, CAN, and Ethernet.* Long-range RF protocols and link budget analysis.* Analog and high-speed digital video design.* C/C++ firmware for board bring-up and diagnostics.* DFM, DFT, and EMI experience.* Startup or founding engineer experience.---## **Why Join*** Founding-level ownership of the hardware stack and technical direction.* Fast iteration: hardware in operators’ hands in months, not years.* Small, high-agency team with a direct line from idea to field test.* Real deployment pressure, real feedback, real learning.* Snack of choice stocked in the workshop

Skills

• CAD Design
• Altium