Drone Electrical & Systems Engineer (UAV Avionics & Field Operations)

About Rownd

Rownd is a fast-paced, high-execution technology and hardware startup. We are building 100% autonomous physical assets—deploying custom software and hardware systems for defense and commercial sectors to put intelligent machines in the field.

We don't just write software or integrate off-the-shelf parts; we build the full drone from the ground up. We operate with extreme autonomy, an aggressive bias for action, and a "just do it" mindset. We don't write software to sit in the cloud; we write software to make physical things navigate, sense, and act in the real world. We are constantly pushing the absolute outer edges of what is physically and computationally possible.

🇺🇸 Our Mission & Alignment

We build for the mission. Rownd sells directly to the US military and its allies. Every teammate at Rownd must fully support the armed forces and its institutions, and feel completely comfortable working to support them. Our products protect US Service members and bring pain to those who wish to do them harm. If you want to see your engineering designs directly support and defend those on the front lines, you belong here.

Position Overview

We are looking for our Drone Electrical & Systems Engineer—a versatile, hands-on EE builder who can manage carrier board development, draft complete wiring diagrams, coordinate outsourced wire harness manufacturing, build and repair drone systems, automate pre-flight routines with agentic AI, and fly hardware on the runway weekly.

This role requires a broad engineering mindset. You won't be locked in a dark room designing multi-layer PCBs in isolation all day. Instead, you will assist in carrier board design alongside our external hardware partners, draft wiring schematics/diagrams, source custom cable/harness manufacturing from external suppliers, assemble systems, solder pristine connections, troubleshoot power and noise issues, and run active flight tests out of the Hartford Airport. You will also manage the physical lifecycle of our R&D hardware—putting together, taking apart, fixing, packaging, and shipping drones for field deployment.

No prior drone flight or piloting experience is required (we will gladly train you on the airfield!), but you must think flying autonomous drone hardware in the real world is extremely cool.

You should be highly comfortable using Agentic AI tools (Cursor, Claude, LLM code assistants, automated scripting frameworks) to rapidly write software that automates pre-flight checks, system diagnostics, and telemetry analysis.

Culture, Trust & Expectations

At Rownd, we maintain a high level of trust and exceptionally high expectations.

• Figure It Out: You won’t be handed a step-by-step playbook, a finished wiring diagram, or a perfect bill of materials. You are expected to think outside the box, select robust components, solve noise and power issues, and do whatever it takes to make our electronics function flawlessly in the air.
• Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: Startups are fast and chaotic. You must be completely okay with extreme ambiguity, rapid pivots, and fast-moving technical updates. When things change, your instinct should be to adapt and build, not freeze.
• Positive & Collaborative: We are a tight-knit team. We look for people who are additive, collaborative, positive, and genuinely great to work with. No brilliant jerks.
• Hard Work & Real Rest: This is a startup environment pushing hard to make history—it is not a traditional, comfortable 9-to-5. We work intensely when we are on, but we also fiercely protect our team's well-being. We expect you to actually take your time off, unplug, and recharge.

Key Areas of Responsibility

⚡ Systems Architecture & Carrier Board Design

• Carrier Board Collaboration: Assist in specifying, reviewing, and guiding custom carrier board designs in partnership with external design agencies/contractors. Review schematics, select connectors/pinouts, and validate incoming revision hardware.
• Wiring Diagrams & Harness Sourcing: Create full wiring diagrams, schematics, and cable pinout documentation. Specify, source, and coordinate with external wire harness manufacturers/cable assembly partners to outsource custom production runs, while maintaining in-house prototyping capabilities.
• Avionics & Power Integration: Specify and integrate flight controllers, ESCs, BLDC motors, gas/hybrid engines, RF links, GPS/GNSS, and battery management systems across Type 1-3 UAS platforms.
• Harness Fabrication & EMI Mitigation: Perform hands-on harness fabrication, modifications, and field repairs (crimping, soldering, potting, heat-shrinking). Eliminate electromagnetic interference between high-power motor drivers and sensitive RF/GPS payloads.

🛠️ Hands-On R&D, Repair & Logistics

• Hardware Lifecycle Management: Build, disassemble, diagnose, fix, and modify R&D drone airframes and avionics.
• Packaging & Shipping: Package, crate, and ship experimental hardware and field-test kits to ensure safe transport for client sites and international exercise locations.
• Bench Testing: Use multi-meters, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers to diagnose power drops, signal integrity, and bus communication faults (CAN, UART, I2C, SPI).

🤖 Agentic AI & Software Automation

• Pre-Flight & Diagnostic Automation: Leverage Agentic AI tools (Cursor, Claude, LLMs) to write Python/C++ scripts and utilities that automate pre-flight checklists, sensor calibration verification, battery telemetry health checks, and log analysis.
• AI Tooling Readiness: Continuously integrate AI coding agents into your workflow to multiply software and diagnostic output.

🛫 Flight Operations & Field Exercises

• Hartford Airport Flight Testing: Conduct active flight line testing most of your 4 in-office days per week out of the Hartford Airport. Assist in tuning open-source autopilots (PX4, ArduPilot), verify sensor feeds, and troubleshoot live hardware issues on the runway.
• Global Field Deployments: Travel 5–8 weeks per year to support client demonstrations, field trials, and multinational military training exercises across the US and worldwide (non-active warzones).

Candidate Qualifications

• Broad Electrical & Avionics Familiarity: Hands-on experience working with electronics, power distribution, wiring harnesses, motors/ESCs, or engines.
• Wiring Diagrams & Manufacturing Sourcing: Demonstrated ability to draft system wiring diagrams/schematics and manage outsourced custom wire harness manufacturing with external vendors.
• No Flight Experience Required (Just Enthusiasm): You do NOT need prior drone piloting or flight control experience—we will train you on the airfield! You just need to find flying hardware and watching your electrical designs take flight extremely cool.
• Design Agency Familiarity: Comfort reviewing schematics/layouts and collaborating with external PCB design partners to deliver production carrier boards.
• Hands-On Skills: Pristine soldering skills (SMD rework), custom harness fabrication, crimping, and bench testing. Aerospace/mechanical engineering familiarity is a huge plus.
• Agentic AI & Scripting: Strong desire or existing experience using agentic AI tools (Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT) to rapidly write Python/C++ automation scripts.
• Schedule & Location Requirement: Must reside in or relocate to the Greater Richfield / Slinger / Hartford, WI area. 4 days/week in-office/flight line attendance required.
• US Citizenship & Clearance: Candidates must be US citizens eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance (due to our defense work and FCL requirements).
• Travel Flexibility: Willing and able to travel 5–8 weeks per year for domestic and international client field exercises (non-active warzones).

Interview Process

Our Hiring Process: How We Work Together

We hate traditional, slow corporate loops as much as you do. Here is our direct, transparent 4-step process:

Step 0: The Application

Send us your resume and a short note highlighting the coolest custom electrical system, wire harness, drone, or hardware project you’ve ever built.

Step 1: Show Off

Bring something physical to show us! This could be a custom board layout, a wire harness, an RC/drone setup, or a cool circuit design. If your professional work is private or under NDA, choose something else to show us instead—even if it is only tangentially related to this role. We value passion over raw technical merit. We want to see something you built or wired and hear you explain the unique engineering compromises you made.

Step 2: The Mutual Fit (A Paid Practical Week)

We will pay you to work with us for one week (part-time, ~6-8 hours of work designed to easily fit into your current spare time).

• The Project: You will work on a real task—likely reviewing a carrier board pinout, drafting a pre-flight automation script using AI, or designing a power harness layout/wiring diagram.
• Open Source: We will open-source or publish the results. You get paid, you keep the asset for your portfolio, and we get to see your real-world design process.
• The Rhythm: If your schedule allows, you will attend our team standups. Otherwise, we will arrange 2-3 flexible syncs during the week.

Step 3: Founders Chat

You will sit down with our 3 co-founders to discuss long-term visions—your goals for yourself and the role, and our shared vision for Rownd's hardware future.

Step 4: Offer & Onboarding

If we move forward with an offer, we request a response within one week, targeting a start date roughly 2-3 weeks later.

What’s In It For You?

• Fly Hardware Weekly: Get out from behind the desk and test your electrical systems directly on the runway 4 days a week.
• End-to-End Hardware Ownership: Own carrier board specs, wiring architectures, pre-flight software tools, and field readiness.
• Global Defense Tech Credentials: Direct experience deploying tactical UAS platforms at domestic and international military exercises.
• Ownership: $85,000 – $125,000 salary combined with meaningful equity, letting you share directly in Rownd’s growth.