Senior UAV Design Engineer
- havant, england, United Kingdom
- £60 - £80 Per Hour
Job Description
LiveLink Aerospace is seeking a skilled and passionate Senior UAV Design Engineer with 4 to 5 years of dedicated experience in the unmanned aerial vehicle field. In this role, you will own the lifecycle of our UAV systems - from initial concept and prototyping through to integration, validation, and low-volume production.
You will blend cutting-edge mechanical design with hands-on hardware integration, working in a fast-paced environment to build, test, and refine the next generation of aerospace technology.
Important Requirements:
Security Clearance: Due to the nature of our projects and the sensitive data we handle, candidates must be able to obtain and maintain UK Security Clearance (SC) . This typically requires having lived in the UK for the last 5 years and holding a valid passport.
Key Responsibilities
- Mechanical & Structural Design: Design high-performance UAV airframes, payload structures, and mechanical assemblies using Fusion 360. Develop detailed CAD models and production-ready technical drawings.
- Component Specification: Select and specify optimal UAV components, including propulsion systems, motors, ESCs, batteries, telemetry modules, sensors, and flight controllers.
- Rapid Prototyping: Design and rapidly iterate prototypes utilising 3D printing, sheet metal, laser CNC, and other advanced manufacturing methods to optimise performance and manufacturability.
- Manufacturing & Documentation: Produce comprehensive assembly drawings, Bills of Materials (BOMs), and detailed build instructions to ensure seamless knowledge transfer and traceability for production teams.
- Systems Integration & Testing: Perform hands-on integration, wiring, and soldering of electronics. Configure, tune, and troubleshoot flight stacks running Betaflight and ArduCopter firmware.
- Field Operations & Validation: Conduct field testing and flight validation. Debug UAV performance issues under real-world conditions, identifying root causes to drive iterative design improvements.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with RF and software engineers to ensure hardware accommodates system requirements, and collaborate with production teams to transition prototypes into scalable, low-volume manufacturing workflows.
- Vendor Management: Coordinate with external suppliers and manufacturers for prototype fabrication and low-volume production runs.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Technical Design & Manufacturing:
- Advanced proficiency in parametric CAD (Fusion 360) and technical drawing creation.
- Deep understanding of UAV architecture, system integration, and weight/balance optimization.
- Hands-on experience with additive manufacturing (3D printing), sheet metal design/fabrication, laser cutting, and CNC bending machinery.
- Strong practical skills in electronics assembly, routing, and precision soldering.
Flight Systems & Testing:
- Proven experience configuring and tuning ArduCopter and Betaflight flight stacks.
- Excellent field troubleshooting, debugging, and data-logging analysis skills.
- GVC (General Visual Line of Sight Certificate) certification for operating multirotor and fixed-wing UAV platforms is highly desirable.
Professional Attributes:
- A proactive problem-solver who thrives in rapid development cycles.
- Strong collaborative communication skills for working alongside multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Excellent organisational skills for managing BOMs, suppliers, and technical documentation.