UAV Engineer in Portsmouth

Salary: £40,000-£50,000 DOE

Full Time Permanent

Who we are

SubSea Craft is a fast growing, privately‑funded, UK‑based innovative maritime technology company specialising in next‑generation, high‑performance watercraft and systems. We operate at the intersection of advanced engineering, cutting‑edge design, and user‑centric innovation, delivering safe, effective, and enabling solutions for both commercial and defence applications.

What we offer

• Annual Leave – Entitlement to 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays
• Wellbeing Day – An additional Wellbeing Day each year to focus on personal health and wellbeing.
• Private Healthcare – Access to comprehensive private healthcare coverage to support your physical and mental wellbeing.
• Life Assurance and Critical Illness Cover – Comprehensive protection including Life Assurance (4x salary) and Critical Illness Cover for added financial security.
• Family Leave – Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Christmas Leave – A Christmas shutdown is typically observed.
• Professional Development – Commitment to ongoing learning and career growth, supported by training programmes and access to LinkedIn Learning.
• Pension Contribution – pension scheme with the option to contribute via salary sacrifice
• Flexible Working – Opportunities for flexible working arrangements to promote work‑life balance.
• Inclusive Culture – A professional environment that values diversity, innovation, and collaboration.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a UAV Engineer with a keen interest in developing and prototyping special‑purpose Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to join our small but fast‑paced Research Engineering team. The role involves a mixture of conceptual and detailed design across multiple engineering disciplines, as well as hands‑on workshop tasks and the assembly of prototype UAS platforms. The ideal candidate is someone who takes a pragmatic approach to solving engineering challenges using an iterative development process, with the mindset of “fail fast, learn faster.”

Responsibilities

• Assist in the ongoing development of special‑purpose Unmanned Aerial Systems for the maritime domain.
• Rapid prototyping of UAS systems and subsystems, from concept to fully functioning prototypes.
• Assist with the mechanical, electrical, and system‑level design of UAS platforms.
• Undertake a combination of office‑based design work and hands‑on practical workshop tasks to support prototype builds, including mechanical and electrical assembly.
• Assist with sensor integration and software configuration.
• Support the execution of test and validation activities both on‑site (e.g. test rigs) and off‑site during system/flight testing at test locations.
• Liaise with other business units (e.g. trials team, commercial, procurement, manufacturing, etc.).
• Occasional travel abroad.
• Work with external partners on component procurement and legislative/compliance requirements.
• Assist with other tasks (outside of UAS) as required by the business.

Qualifications and Experience Required

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Mechanical or Mechatronic Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics or other relevant STEM discipline
• 2‑5 years applicable work experience
• Professional or hobbyist experience with unmanned aerial systems (fixed‑wing and/or multirotor) – ideally custom builds

Desirable

• Experience with commonly used autopilot software (e.g. Ardupilot, PX4 or INAV)
• Experience with UAS sensors and flight controllers and the integration thereof
• General coding ability (C++, C, Python)
• Familiarity with commonly used GCS software (e.g. Mission Planner/QGroundControl)
• Familiarity of real‑time data transmission protocols used on remotely operated platforms

Note

Due to the nature of work undertaken at SubSea Craft, the selected candidate must be capable of meeting the security requirements of the position, which would include as a minimum Existing right to live and work in the UK, Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), with Security Check likely for specific projects.

Values

Our people are our greatest asset, we continually strive to provide an excellent working environment to enable our team to do their best work. We have an agile professional workforce: we are founded on the belief that our people are valued and our business is trusted, inclusive and commercially‑adept.

What we expect from you

• Teamwork, mutual respect and collaboration
• Initiative and independent working
• Honesty and integrity
• Business and commercial awareness
• Adaptability and continuous development

We regret that due to the high volume of applications we are unable to acknowledge every application. Please bear in mind that if you are selected for an interview we will aim to contact you within 14 days of your application or (if stated). However, if we think that your skills and qualifications may be suitable for other similar positions we may hold your details on our database and contact you in the future. Please let us know if you do not wish us to keep your details on file.

Please note that DBS, Driving Licence and reference checks will be carried out and all offers of employment are subject to meeting our requirements.