About the role

We are Jasper and Alessandro, the founders of Impact Drones (YC S26). Jasper, an aerospace engineer (MSc, TU Delft), has built drones for over a decade, including the Hannover Messe VTOL competition winner, and worked with special forces on the 2025 NATO Summit counter-drone plan; Alessandro (MSc, Columbia) built the pipeline behind our 180M+ USD in signed LOIs.

We are hiring an integration engineer to connect radars and drones into one system. We do not build radars: we use the best ones, plus whatever a customer already runs, and own the software that turns a radar track into an interceptor launch.

In March 2026, Iranian drones struck three AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain. Fiber-optic FPV drones cannot be jammed. The only thing that stops them is a physical intercept. That is what we build.

About Impact Drones
We sell Air Defense as a Service to civilian critical infrastructure. One container on site senses, decides and launches our interceptors: HUNTER, a kinetic quadcopter in combat in Ukraine against Shahed-class drones; WEAVER, which catches drones intact in a net; and SABLE, our turbojet interceptor.

What you will own

• Integrating third-party radars, RF detectors and EO/IR cameras.
• Fusing their tracks into one air picture.
• Connecting our drones (PX4, ArduPilot, Betaflight, MAVLink) and customer command-and-control systems.
• Test rigs and range tests that prove the chain from detection to launch.

Your first 3 months

• Month one: a third-party radar streams live tracks into our response software, time-synced and in the right frame.
• Month two: radar and camera tracks merge into one air picture that cues a launch, no hand-typed coordinates.
• Month three: a full detect-to-catch run with WEAVER on the range, logged and repeatable.

What you bring

• You integrated hardware you did not build (a sensor, vehicle or autopilot) and made it work in the field.
• Strong C++ or Python on Linux.
• Comfort with networking, time sync and coordinate frames.
• Tracking or sensor fusion experience.

Bonus points

• Counter-UAS, air-surveillance radar or defense work, or standards like ASTERIX or SAPIENT.
• You fly FPV or build drones.

Compensation

• Base salary: $100,000 to $150,000 per year.
• Equity: 0.2% to 0.4%, 4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff.

Where we work
On-site in San Francisco next to the founders, with regular field tests at outdoor ranges and customer sites.

How to apply
Apply here on Work at a Startup and answer the one question on the form: which sensor or vehicle you integrated that worked in the field, in one or two lines, plus a link if you can. We read every application ourselves.

Jasper and Alessandro

This role may involve technical data subject to U.S. export controls (ITAR and EAR). Applicants must be U.S. persons or eligible for any required export authorization.

Impact Drones is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in line with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

About the interview

We run every step ourselves, no recruiters.

First, a 20-minute intro call with Jasper, or a coffee in San Francisco. You hear what we are building and where the integration work stands. We hear what you have connected and made work.

Then a 45-minute technical deep dive on something you built: a sensor, radar, camera or autopilot integration you know inside out. Bring the code, the logs or a video. If it is under NDA or export control, just walk us through it, no code needed. We want to know what broke in the field and how you found out why. No whiteboard puzzles.

Next, a working session with us on a sample task, for example getting a radar feed or a MAVLink link talking to our software. Never on controlled data. You see how we work, we see how you work.

Last, with your OK, we call references, ideally people who stood next to you on a range or in a lab. Never your current employer without asking.

We decide within two weeks of the first call, and we tell you either way.

About IMPACT Drones

Impact Drones (YC S26) sells Air Defense as a Service to civilian critical infrastructure: data centers, refineries, airports and power grids.

In March 2026, Iranian drones struck three AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain. Fiber-optic FPV drones cannot be jammed. The only thing that stops them is a physical intercept. That is what we build.

One container on site senses, decides and launches our interceptors: HUNTER, a kinetic quadcopter in combat in Ukraine against Shahed-class drones; WEAVER, which catches drones intact in a net; and SABLE, our turbojet interceptor. First LOIs signed with defense and data-center customers.

We work on-site in San Francisco, with regular field testing at outdoor ranges.