Application Technology Architect – Drone & UAV Applications

Renesas Electronics•Austin, TX

61d•Remote

About The Position

We are looking for an experienced and visionary System Architect to serve as Renesas' global technical leader for Drone and UAV applications. This individual will define and drive end-to-end system architectures for next-generation UAV platforms while identifying emerging market opportunities, shaping solution roadmaps, and promoting differentiated semiconductor and software solutions. You will act as the primary technical authority for Drone & UAV applications, bridging customer requirements, ecosystem needs, aviation regulations, and semiconductor product engineering. Beyond architecture definition, you will help guide solution strategy, ecosystem engagement, reference platform development, and semiconductor adoption across industrial, commercial and defense UAV markets.

Requirements

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.
Systems Engineer in the development of industrial and/or defense drone platforms. Proven track record as a System Architect, Chief Engineer, Technical Lead, or Senior
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, autonomy, or other safety- and mission-critical UAV functions.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

Define and own end-to-end system architectures for industrial and/or defense drone and UAV applications, covering flight control, mission computing, sensing, propulsion, power, connectivity, and ground-control interfaces.
Translate customer use cases and mission requirements 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.
Define compute architectures for edge AI, computer vision, visual-inertial odometry, SLAM, object detection, tracking, and autonomous decision-making.
Develop robust communication architectures covering command and control, telemetry, payload data, remote identification, vehicle-to-vehicle links, cloud connectivity, and ground-control systems.
Define power and propulsion architectures, including battery management, power conversion and distribution, motor control, energy optimization, thermal management, and fault monitoring.
Ensure safety, reliability, cybersecurity, redundancy, fault containment, degraded-operation modes, and fail-safe behaviors are designed into the system architecture.
Collaborate closely with Product Groups, system architects, hardware, software, AI, connectivity, power, motor-control, security, and validation teams to deliver cohesive semiconductor-based solutions.
Support product definition and roadmaps by identifying UAV system requirements, technology gaps, architectural trade-offs, and opportunities for differentiated semiconductor and software solutions.
Guide and review system design, implementation, integration, verification, validation, and flight-test activities across the development lifecycle.
Engage with drone OEMs, technology partners, research institutes, and ecosystem providers to understand requirements, support architecture discussions, and accelerate design-in activities.
Support customer engagements by explaining system concepts, design choices, performance trade-offs, integration guidelines, and reference solution capabilities.
Monitor market trends, evolving regulations, emerging technologies, and competitive solutions, and translate insights into application strategies and architectures.
Influence product and technology roadmaps by translating evolving UAV market requirements into strategic semiconductor investment opportunities.
Contribute to reference architectures, evaluation platforms, proofs of concept, application notes, and reusable solution building blocks for multiple UAV platforms.
Provide technical mentoring, design reviews, and domain guidance to internal engineering, application, field, and product teams.