Application Technology Architect – Drone & UAV Applications - Austin, United States
Digital Design & SoC Architecture
Originally posted 9 September 2026 by the employer.
This role focuses on end-to-end system architectures for Drone and UAV applications.
About the role
What you'll do
- Define and own end-to-end system architectures for industrial and/or defense drone and UAV applications.
- Translate customer use cases into system, hardware, software, performance, safety, security, and interface requirements.
- Drive HW/SW partitioning across MCUs, MPUs/SoCs, AI accelerators, programmable logic, sensors, connectivity devices, power electronics, and actuators.
- Define architectures for flight control, sensor fusion, navigation, positioning, stabilization, autonomous mission execution, obstacle detection, and collision avoidance.
- Specify and integrate sensing solutions such as IMUs, GNSS/RTK, cameras, radar, LiDAR, ultrasonic sensors, barometric sensors, and environmental sensors.
- Ensure safety, reliability, cybersecurity, redundancy, fault containment, degraded-operation modes, and fail-safe behaviors are designed into the system architecture.
What you'll need
- Master’s or Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
- 8+ years of experience in drone, UAV, aerospace, robotics, autonomous-system, or embedded-system development, with significant responsibility for system architecture and integration.
- Proven track record as a System Architect, Chief Engineer, Technical Lead, or Senior Systems Engineer in the development of industrial and/or defense drone platforms.
- Hands-on experience contributing to at least one UAV platform through architecture, development, system integration, verification, flight testing, and product deployment.
- Deep understanding of UAV architectures, including flight controllers, mission computers, avionics, propulsion, power systems, payloads, communication links, and ground-control systems.
- Strong knowledge of embedded systems, MCUs, MPUs/SoCs, real-time software, embedded Linux, RTOS platforms, and heterogeneous computing architectures.
- Strong experience in flight control, estimation, sensor fusion, navigation, GNSS/RTK, perception, or autonomy.
Nice to have
- Experience with PX4, ArduPilot, ROS 2, MAVLink, DDS, or comparable UAV and robotics software frameworks.
- Familiarity with aviation development and safety practices, EASA or FAA UAV regulations, Remote ID, BVLOS operations, and relevant standards such as DO-178C, DO-254, ARP4754A, or ARP4761.
- Experience with edge AI, computer vision, SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, radar or LiDAR perception, and AI accelerator platforms.
- Background in electric propulsion, motor control, battery management, power conversion, or high-efficiency power electronics for aerial systems.
- Experience with cybersecurity, secure communications, GNSS resilience, anti-jamming, or system-level threat analysis.
- Knowledge of simulation, model-based systems engineering, software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and digital-twin environments.
- Experience supporting third-party assessments, flight approvals, certification, or regulatory compliance activities.
Skills: system architectures, UAV applications, HW/SW partitioning, flight control, sensor fusion, power electronics
Market context
This role has been open 35 days — well below the 55-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · SOC Architecture
|
Open roles in category
107
|
Median days open
55 d
|
Median salary
$212k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Renesas Electronics | All employers we track in this specialty (107 roles · 28 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 1 | 107 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 126 | 6140 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 35 d | 55 d (−20 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $212k |
Skills observed across this category: system architectures, UAV applications, HW/SW partitioning, flight control, sensor fusion, power electronics
Who's hiring in this category
- AMD · 29 open roles · median 55 d
- Qualcomm · 21 open roles · median 43 d
- NVIDIA · 16 open roles · median 74 d
- Intel Corporation · 7 open roles · median 42 d
- Mobileye · 4 open roles · median 22 d
- Apple · 3 open roles · median 14 d
How we counted: 107 open Hardware Systems Engineering (SOC Architecture) roles from 28 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.