Flight Systems Engineer

Haast Autonomous is building an autonomous aircraft network for time-sensitive medical logistics. We’re developing long-range VTOL aircraft, autonomy software, and the operational foundation needed to move critical payloads between hospitals, labs, and healthcare facilities on-demand faster and more reliably.

We’re early, small, and moving quickly. Joining now means you'll have a direct role in shaping the foundation of Haast — our culture, engineering process, testing discipline, partner relationships, and the path from prototype to a real medical logistics network.

We’re looking for high-agency people who want ownership, urgency, and system-level impact from day one.

About the Role

As a Flight Systems Engineer at Haast, you will own the systems that transform our aircraft from hardware into a reliable, autonomous flying platform.

You will work across autopilot setup, avionics integration, sensors, wiring, telemetry, power distribution, failsafes, flight modes, tuning, and flight-test support. You will help us understand why the aircraft behaved in a certain way, what needs to change, and how to improve the next test.

This is one of the most important technical roles at Haast. Reliability begins here.

What You’ll Do

• Own autopilot configuration, tuning, and flight control setup for fixed-wing VTOL aircraft

• Work with ArduPilot, PX4, Mission Planner, QGroundControl, MAVLink, or similar systems

• Integrate GPS, airspeed sensors, telemetry radios, RC links, ADS-B, payload sensors, servos, ESCs, and other avionics

• Design, build, and debug wiring harnesses, power distribution systems, connectors, and avionics layouts

• Develop and validate failsafes, geofencing, lost-link behavior, emergency procedures, and flight modes

• Review flight logs and diagnose issues related to controls, sensors, vibration, power, telemetry, configuration, or airframe behavior

• Build SITL/HITL workflows and connect simulation behavior to real aircraft operations

• Prepare aircraft for flight tests through parameter reviews, pre-flight checks, and system validation

• Collaborate with mechanical, simulation, and flight-test engineers to improve reliability

• Document avionics architecture, wiring diagrams, parameter changes, test results, and lessons learned

• Help build the controls and avionics foundation for a scalable autonomous aircraft network

What We’re Looking For

• Experience building, tuning, testing, or flying UAVs

• Strong working knowledge of ArduPilot, PX4, or similar autopilot systems

• Comfortable reading flight logs and identifying root causes

• Experience with GPS, airspeed sensors, telemetry radios, servos, ESCs, power systems, batteries, and wiring

• Ability to debug real hardware issues using logs, multimeters, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or any necessary tool

• Good understanding of flight modes, control loops, sensor behavior, and aircraft dynamics

• Hands-on ability with soldering, crimping, wiring, bench testing, and field troubleshooting

• Strong safety judgment and calm decision-making during test operations

• Startup mindset: high ownership, practical, fast, low ego

Nice to Have

• Experience with fixed-wing VTOL aircraft

• Experience with larger UAVs, long-range UAVs, or logistics aircraft

• Experience with BVLOS preparation, Remote ID, ADS-B, detect-and-avoid, or FAA test environments

• Experience debugging vibration, EMI, GPS multipath, noisy power, or sensor dropouts

• Python, MATLAB, or scripting experience for flight-log analysis

• Experience with redundant avionics, safety cases, or aviation-grade documentation

What Success Looks Like

• Within your first month, you will understand the current aircraft configuration, address important avionics and parameter issues, review past flight logs, and identify the main reliability blockers.

• Within three months, Haast should be running more repeatable flight tests with improved wiring, cleaner configuration, stronger failsafes, clearer logs, and deeper insight into the next steps for the aircraft.

We care more about agency, ownership, taste, and evidence that you can build than whether you match every bullet point. If you have worked on aircraft, drones, robots, vehicles, rockets, or other hard technical systems and want to help build something from the ground up, we want to hear from you.