Mission Engineer - Air Systems (Autonomous Systems)

Location: Remote/Hybrid, United States; frequent domestic and international travel to test sites, customer locations, and operational environments is required.

Salary: $110,000–$137,000 annually, plus equity and potential bonuses.

Company

Apium Swarm Robotics develops swarm autonomy software for air, surface, undersea, and ground vehicles used in commercial and defense environments.

What you will do

• Deploy, operate, maintain, and support unmanned aerial, surface, undersea, and ground vehicle platforms in field environments.
• Execute missions involving autonomous and semi-autonomous systems, including operations with limited infrastructure and communications.
• Configure, troubleshoot, and integrate autonomy, autopilot, vehicle, payload, and ground-support systems.
• Perform pre-mission checks, post-mission analysis, maintenance, and repairs.
• Provide operational feedback to engineering teams to improve system performance and reliability.
• Support customer demonstrations, evaluations, training events, business development engagements, and deployments.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of hands-on experience deploying, operating, or maintaining unmanned systems such as UAS, USV, UUV, or UGV platforms.
• Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.
• Experience operating systems in austere field and/or maritime environments.
• Strong mechanical, electrical, or systems troubleshooting skills.
• Ability to travel frequently, including international travel, sometimes on short notice.
• Ability to work irregular hours, operate heavy field equipment, and remain effective under operational pressure.

Nice to have

• Military experience with unmanned systems in land, air, or maritime domains.
• Experience with autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle operations.
• Background in defense, maritime, aerospace, or safety-critical commercial operations.
• Familiarity with command-and-control systems, mission-planning software, or autonomy platforms.
• U.S. security clearance or ability to obtain one; experience in classified or export-controlled environments.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on real autonomous systems deployed and tested in operational environments rather than research prototypes.
• High level of autonomy, ownership, and accountability in field operations.
• Exposure to commercial and defense applications across air, surface, undersea, and ground vehicles.
• Equity and potential bonuses in addition to salary.