Flight Systems Engineer

Haast Autonomous•Pendleton, OR

About The Position

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.

Requirements

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 Haves

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

Responsibilities

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