JOB DESCRIPTION

Looking for the right runway for your career to take flight? Consider joining us here at Collins Aerospace, where we’re working side-by-side with customers on exciting industry possibilities. With a comprehensive portfolio, extensive capabilities and broad expertise, we’re crafting intelligent solutions to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global market – all representing the best in innovation and technology for the industries we serve across commercial, business, space, and military and defense aviation.
With 68,000 employees across 46 countries around the world, we offer an extensive flight list of opportunities to explore the depth of our organization. We offer flexible work options to meet your needs by offering on-site, hybrid and remote roles. Join us and help build a more advanced, more autonomous, more connected, more electric and more sustainable future!
Are you interested in autonomous systems and operations? Are you passionate about technology and rapid prototyping? Well, you may be interested in this position! At Collins Aerospace Applied Research & Technology, our Autonomous Systems is redefining autonomy, automation and robotics in a completely new and brilliant way! We are looking for a passionate candidate interested in joining our Mission Autonomy team in the Autonomous Systems discipline team.
This is a technology focused role to shape future of aerospace and defense technologies from concept definition through to demonstration.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• A Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field with a strong emphasis on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous systems, multi-agent systems, or similar.
• A minimum of 5 years work experience.
• Deep understanding of multi-vehicle systems, including communication protocols, standards, coordination strategies, and synchronization techniques.
• Proficiency in programming languages, tools and simulation environments commonly used in robotics and autonomous systems (e.g., C/C++, Python, ROS, MATLAB/Simulink, Ansys STK, Gazebo).
• Strong background in algorithms and data structures relevant to UAV autonomy, cooperative control, swarm intelligence, planning, and mission execution.
• Proven experience in managing complex projects from initiation to completion, including defining project scope, timelines, milestones, and deliverables. Ability to oversee project budgets, resources, and teams, ensuring successful execution within scope and on schedule.
• Expertise in handling project proposals, including leading the preparation of proposals for EU research calls (e.g., Horizon Europe, SESAR, EDA, EDF) and RFIs and/or RFPs, ensuring alignment with customer requirements.
• Strong communication and organizational skills to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Motivated self-starter with a strong enthusiasm to grow technologies, and business value propositions.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Familiarity with human system integration concepts and with the design of human-computer interfaces for UAV systems command-and-control.
• In-depth understanding of UAV systems, including flight dynamics, sensor integration, communication and message protocols, and navigation systems. Familiarity with UAV hardware components and subsystems, such as flight controllers and autopilots (e.g., PX4, ArduPilot), navigation modules (e.g., GPU, IMU), cameras, and radar/lidar sensors.
• Willing to champion and challenge the technical status quo.
  RTX adheres to the principles of equal employment. All qualified applications will be given careful consideration without regard to ethnicity, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead collaborative autonomy projects’ teams, driving advanced research in multi-vehicle coordination, multidomain autonomy, and human-autonomy teaming, to support the short- and medium-term strategy of the discipline.
• Design, develop, and assess solutions for multi-agent planning and real-time coordination, incorporating cutting-edge technologies and bridging the gap between research and practical implementation on real platforms. Work closely with engineering teams across the organization to ensure the smooth integration of developed solutions into larger systems.
• Create simulation environments and test rigs to conduct both virtual and physical testing for assessing system performance and reliability.
• Innovate and suggest new approaches to improve the efficiency, safety, and robustness of autonomous systems in collaborative settings.
• Lead and manage research projects from start to finish, including defining project objectives, establishing milestones, and overseeing timelines and projects’ staff. Mentor junior team members to ensure knowledge transfer and skills development within the team.