Flight Control & Dynamics Engineer

Harmattan AI seeks a Mid-level Flight Control & Dynamics Engineer in Lausanne, Paris, or Zurich to design control laws and validate autonomous flight systems.

This position focuses on advancing high-speed autonomous flight capabilities. The engineer will take ownership of control law design and system identification, ensuring that theoretical models translate effectively into real-world aircraft performance.

Responsibilities

• Create excitation maneuvers and derive airframe models from flight data, ensuring error bounds are quantified.
• Develop and tune inner rate and attitude loops, as well as outer position loops, utilizing allocation, gain scheduling, and tuning techniques.
• Maintain the proprietary simulator to guarantee that control algorithms developed in simulation function correctly on actual aircraft.
• Translate stability derivatives and coefficient tables from Aerodynamics into functional flying controls.
• Validate control systems across simulation, Software-in-the-Loop (SITL), and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) environments, including Monte Carlo campaigns, and iterate based on flight logs.
• Provide mentorship to junior control and GNC engineers, with the level of guidance depending on the candidate's seniority.

Requirements

• A degree in aerospace engineering, controls, robotics, or a related STEM discipline, accompanied by a strong academic record.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience with identification and control on multirotor or fixed-wing platforms, verified through actual flight tests.
• Deep expertise in at least one advanced control method, such as Model Predictive Control (MPC), Input-Output Linearization (INDI), or geometric control.
• Experience implementing real-time control on constrained hardware, split between a microcontroller and a companion computer.
• Familiarity with reinforcement learning and simulation-based training methodologies.
• A disciplined approach to experiments and validation, grounded in empirical data and hardware honesty.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to present control strategies and test results to both engineers and senior stakeholders.
• The ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, maintaining a no-task-is-too-small mentality even under pressure.

Nice to have

• Experience with multi-airframe operations or hover-to-cruise transitions.

About the company

Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. The company values building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. The environment is demanding where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected.

• Focus on building technologies with real-world impact.
• Pursuit of excellence and setting ambitious goals.
• Taking on the hardest technical challenges.
• Demanding environment expecting rigor, ownership, and execution.