Embedded Software Engineer Intern

Harmattan AI

ABOUT US Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces. Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected. ABOUT THE ROLE As our GNC, ML, Embedded Software, and Validation teams scale, Harmattan AI requires dedicated internal software infrastructure to accelerate development and testing. Joining the Tooling team you will be responsible for developing a "state-of-the-art" drone simulator to support our advanced autonomous defence applications. This role offers high ownership and the opportunity to work at the intersection of software engineering, simulation, and AI robotics with direct mission impact.   RESPONSIBILITIES * Simulator Development: Design, develop, and maintain flight-simulation-related tools and features. * Architectural Design: Define technical solutions, including architecture, APIs, and UIs, to respond to specific project needs. * Performance Optimisation: Analyze simulator performance across various aspects and implement necessary improvements. * Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with GNC, ML, and Embedded teams to establish specifications for new features and ensure the tool meets user needs. * Documentation & Standards: Write clear documentation and tutorials, and eventually mentor junior developers to standardise best practices.   CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS * Experience: Minimum of 3 years of professional experience in software engineering. * Technical Proficiency: Strong software skills in C++ and Python, with a good knowledge of Linux system internals. * Domain Expertise: Significant experience with drones or robotic systems, including practical understanding of embedded software (GNC, gimbal, video) and open-source autopilots like PX4 or Ardupilot. * Simulation & Graphics: Experience in development with game engines (Unreal Engine preferred) or contributing to 3D video game engines (physics or visual realism). * Educational Background: MSc or BSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, or a similar technical field; equivalent professional experience is equally valued.   * Leadership & Mindset: * User Empathy: Ability to balance user feedback with technical vision to build effective R&D tools. * Problem Solving: Proven capacity to handle complex projects, from scoping and prioritising to delivering results under evolving requirements. * Commitment: 100% dedication to Harmattan AI’s mission and a "no-task-is-too-small" mentality in a fast-paced environment. We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

Harmattan AI

ABOUT US Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces. Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected. ABOUT THE ROLE As Harmattan AI develops advanced autonomous drone systems and payloads for defense applications, our engineering teams are scaling rapidly. To support this growth, our internal Tooling team needs a dedicated Software Engineer - Visualization to build the software infrastructure that accelerates development, testing, and validation. In this role, you will design and deliver the critical internal tools that allow our Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), Machine Learning (ML), Embedded Software, and Validation teams to see, explore, and make sense of massive datasets—including telemetry, sensor data, simulation outputs, flight paths, and complex 3D scenes. You will have high ownership and direct mission impact, building infrastructure used daily across all technical teams. RESPONSIBILITIES * Design & Development: Design, develop, and maintain high-performance visualization tools, telemetry dashboards, data plotting software, and 3D scene viewers from scratch. * Architecture & API Design: Define clean, sustainable solutions (architecture, internal APIs, and intuitive user interfaces) responding to specific technical needs from engineering teams. * Pipeline Integration: Ensure all custom visualization tools integrate seamlessly into the company's automated CI/CD and data processing pipelines. * Performance Optimization: Analyze and continuously optimize the performance, rendering, and responsiveness of visualization tools handling real-world data at scale. * Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner directly with user teams (GNC, ML, Embedded, Validation) to translate operational feedback and field requirements into technical specifications. * Quality Assurance: Write clean, robust code, contribute to tests, improve automated quality evaluations, and document workflows via tutorials. * Technical Standards: Set technical standards for internal software tools and mentor junior developers as the organization scales. CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES & EXPERIENCE * Professional Experience: Minimum of 3 years of professional software engineering experience, ideally with a background in robotics, aerospace, or building specialized data visualization platforms. * Core Languages: Strong, production-grade software development skills in C++ and Python. * UI Frameworks: Solid experience building desktop user interfaces or visualization graphics using the Qt framework. * Graphics & Visualization: Proven experience creating data or 3D visualization tools, custom charting libraries, dashboards, or 3D scene renderers. * Development Environment: Complete comfort in a Linux development environment combined with cross-platform build knowledge using containerization tools like Docker. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS (NICE TO HAVE) * Practical experience building applications or software libraries that interface directly with drones, autonomous payloads, or robotic architectures. * A baseline understanding of a drone's embedded software stacks (e.g., GNC logic loops, gimbal control, video streams, or embedded hardware). * Familiarity with CI/CD automation and orchestration tools. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND * Ideally an MSc or BSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, or a similar technical field. Equivalent professional engineering experience is equally valued. LEADERSHIP & PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES * Complex Project Management: Avid learner with a demonstrated capacity to handle large-scale, complex projects from initial scoping and prioritization through rapid, iterative deployments—offering innovative solutions and leading teams to deliver outstanding results. * User Empathy & Design Sensitivity: Empathetic to the pain points of internal user teams; sensitive to software design, ergonomic efficiency, and clean UX. * Adaptability & Mobility: Thrives under pressure in a fast-paced, highly dynamic environment; displays strong curiosity and a healthy “no-task-is-too-small” mentality to maintain continuous deployment workflows. * Communication & Influence: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of leading and collaborating with diverse principals—from junior team members to senior executives and group leaders. * Commitment: 100% dedication to Harmattan AI’s mission, vision, and ambitious growth plans, ready to go the extra mile to ensure operational excellence. We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

Harmattan AI

ABOUT US Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces. Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected. ABOUT THE ROLE As Harmattan AI parallelly scales several complex hardware programs—including ruggedized drone controllers, long-range RF systems, field-deployable launchers, and the UAVs themselves—we are establishing a dedicated R&D Hardware Tooling team. This team is responsible for building internal tools that live in the lab and within engineering workflows, enabling product teams to design, bring up, characterize, and validate hardware faster and with absolute confidence. In this role, you will own the software and embedded layers of this tooling end-to-end. This is a high-impact, fast-iteration position where your tools directly dictate development velocity. Furthermore, as one of the initial hires, there is a clear path to grow into a Team Lead role based on experience and performance. RESPONSIBILITIES * Tooling Software Architecture: Design reusable, modular automation and analysis frameworks (typically Python-based) utilized across all product programs. * Instrument & Fixture Control: Integrate bench instruments and custom fixtures using SCPI/VISA, serial, USB, GPIB, and Ethernet, abstracting device drivers for team-wide reuse. * Embedded Fixture Firmware: Write and maintain robust firmware (bare-metal and/or RTOS) for MCU-based development and validation fixtures handling I/O, signal generation, and measurement. * Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL): Build HIL and development rigs, integrating them seamlessly into CI pipelines for automated firmware regression tracking. * Data Acquisition & Analysis: Capture, store, and surface critical measurement data via databases, dashboards, and analysis scripts to enable data-driven design decisions. * Bring-up & Debug Support: Build specialized bring-up scripts and debug utilities to support product engineering teams directly at the bench. * Protocol Implementation: Implement and debug hardware communication interfaces including SPI, I2C, UART, USB, CAN, and RF/link interfaces. * Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner daily with tooling hardware and mechanical engineers to define fixture interfaces and support rig bring-up, while translating product team needs into reliable tooling. * Documentation: Maintain comprehensive architecture documents, validation procedures, and usage guides. CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS Educational Background * Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Embedded Systems, Computer Science, or an equivalent technical field. Core Technical Competencies & Experience * Proven Test & Automation Experience: Demonstrated success building bench automation, HIL/development rigs, or characterization tooling for real physical hardware. * Software & Automation Skills: Strong proficiency in Python automation (using pytest or equivalent frameworks) and instrument control via SCPI/VISA. * Embedded Firmware: Confident writing embedded C/C++ on microcontrollers (typically ARM Cortex-M), spanning both bare-metal environments and RTOS architectures (e.g., FreeRTOS, Zephyr). * Hardware Debugging: Hands-on experience with hardware bring-up and bench debugging tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD interfaces. * Protocols & Infrastructure: Solid understanding of communication buses (SPI, I2C, UART, USB, CAN) alongside version control and CI pipelines. Professional Attributes & Mindset * Rigorous & Systems-Minded: Possesses a disciplined approach to measurement integrity, clean code, and understanding both the firmware under development and the instruments measuring it. * Autonomous & Pragmatic: Capable of independently driving software architecture decisions while balancing robustness with rapid project execution. * Adaptability & Execution: Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, bringing a "no-task-is-too-small" mentality to a lean engineering team. * Strong Communication & Collaboration: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to work seamlessly across hardware, mechanical, and product software domains without friction. Desirable Pluses * Experience within drone/UAV development, RF/radio systems, or telecommunications hardware. * Prior experience deploying CI-integrated HIL testing systems. * Experience working in ruggedized, military, or industrial-grade hardware environments. We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.