
Neural Concept · Lausanne
About the Role The mission of Neural Concept's Application Engineering team is to help industry leaders redefine how they design products — by bridging cutting...
About the Role
The mission of Neural Concept's Application Engineering team is to help industry leaders redefine how they design products — by
bridging cutting-edge AI technology with real-world engineering challenges. We work hand-in-hand with engineering, design, and
executive teams across automotive, aerospace, and energy to understand their strategic needs and deliver solutions that create
measurable impact.
As part of this team, you will sit at the intersection of business and technology — translating complex customer challenges into
high-value AI-powered solutions, and ensuring those solutions actually land and stick within our customers' organizations. This is
a role for someone who thrives equally in a boardroom conversation with a VP and in a deep-dive technical session with engineers.
If you're excited about shaping how industry leaders adopt AI and about being a trusted advisor to some of the world's most
sophisticated engineering teams, this is the role for you.
What you will do
articulate the value of AI-assisted design, and co-design high-level solution roadmaps.
closely with customer engineering teams and internal developers.
and confident to use new workflows.
to continuously improve the platform.
Who you are
relationships quickly, and drive alignment around complex, ambiguous problems;
technical approach;
sessions with engineering teams;
experience in an industrial or consultancy setting;
industry background;
ML/deep learning frameworks is a strong plus;
What You Get
WE'RE PROUD TO BE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, AND WE'RE COMMITTED TO BUILDING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU CAN
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 the Director of Engineering for UAS at Harmattan AI, you will act as a vital management layer between R&D modules and leadership, focusing on elevating our people and standardising our engineering excellence. This is a "hands-off" people management role designed to relieve pressure on senior leadership by building high-performing teams, improving internal tooling, and standardising work processes across the company without sacrificing execution speed. You will be a visionary partner to our leadership, contributing to organisational structure and the long-term technical vision. In this role, you will lead our UAS Engineering teams across Lausanne and Paris — covering aerodynamics, mechanical design, electronics, propulsion, prototyping, and Systems-on-Module (SOM). UAS Engineering's cadence is driven by physical prototypes and test campaigns, and the role spans multiple senior-heavy hardware disciplines. Responsibilities * People Management & Mentorship: Act as a dedicated people manager for engineers, overseeing performance reviews, career growth, and training initiatives. * Recruitment: Own the recruitment process as the number one priority, building and maintaining an effective engineering team to meet our ambitious growth plans across six hardware engineering disciplines and two sites. * Process Standardisation: Develop and implement standardised work processes across mechanical, electrical, and propulsion engineering teams to ensure high-quality output and consistency. * Engineering Infrastructure: Audit and improve internal tooling—deciding between off-the-shelf and custom solutions—to ensure engineers have the best resources to succeed. * Organisational Strategy: Contribute to the organisational structure by reorganising modules and initiating changes to optimise cross-functional (XFN) delivery. * Vision & Execution: Collaborate with leadership to build the company vision, bringing fresh ideas to the table rather than just executing existing plans. Candidate Requirements * Educational Background: A strong academic record in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field. * Proven Leadership: Previous experience as an Individual Contributor (IC) who has successfully transitioned into a management role, allowing you to deeply understand the technical challenges your team faces. * Experience: Direct experience leading multi-disciplinary hardware engineering teams (30+ engineers) at a UAV, drone, eVTOL, or humanoid / advanced robotics company. You have shipped at least one complex multi-disciplinary hardware system — airframe, propulsion stack, full UAV, or humanoid platform — through prototype to deployment or production, and you know the rhythm of fast-cycle hardware test campaigns and qualification gates. * Technical Engagement: While this is a management-focused role, you should still possess a desire to "keep your hands dirty" and remain engaged with the technical aspects of the work. * Soft Skills & Communication: Exceptional soft skills and communication abilities, with a "high-bar" for excellence and a natural ability to elevate those around them. * Commitment: 100% dedication to Harmattan AI's mission of building autonomous defence systems and a readiness to thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment. We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at 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 a GNC Engineer on the UAV team, you’ll design and develop advanced guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) solutions. From integrating and fusing sensor data to developing control laws and flight trajectories, you'll take your work from simulation to embedded implementation—and ultimately to live flight testing. RESPONSIBILITIES * Develop state-of-the-art navigation and sensor fusion algorithms for UAVs * Design and implement GNC and flight control systems * Build filtering and estimation strategies for robust and efficient flight performance * Run extensive simulations (Monte Carlo, SITL, HITL) and coverage testing * Analyze test flight data and refine algorithmic performance * Support full-stack system integration: GNSS, INS/IMU, localization, and fusion * Maintain and evolve a flight-proven flight computer across multiple UAV platforms REQUIREMENTS * Education : Engineering school or master's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field * 3+ years of experience in aerospace GNC systems * Strong foundations in control theory, estimation, and sensor integration * Proficient in Python and embedded C/C++ * Experience with simulation tools (e.g., Gazebo) and version control (Git) * Familiarity with open-source autopilots (PX4, Ardupilot, Betaflight, etc.) * Hands-on electronics and integration skills: debugging, soldering, harnessing * Bonus: FPV pilot hobbyist We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.
ABOUT THE ROLE Neural Concept’s Vertical Solutions team turns the most critical engineering use cases into streamlined, production-grade workflows empowered by leading AI technologies. As Senior Vehicle Solution Owner, you will use a decade of automotive engineering experience to lead one of the most strategically important parts of our automotive offering. You will define the Vehicle Body solution — built on top of the Neural Concept platform — combining design, simulation and data-science/ML to compress development cycles across the full breadth of vehicle attributes. You will partner directly with leading OEMs to understand their needs and translate them into solution direction and product strategy. If you have spent your career as a chief engineer, attribute lead or technical specialist designing cars, this is a unique chance to step out of a single program and shape, at industry scale, how vehicle are engineered with AI. WHAT YOU WILL DO * Own the Vehicle solution end to end. Define and deliver competitive, replicable solutions for automotive vehicle engineering on the Neural Concept platform, spanning the full breadth of body attributes. * Partner with lead customers. Lead discovery interviews with OEM and Tier-1 customers, build trusted strategic relationships, validate solutions against real-world requirements, and expand product scope to cover a larger part of the design process. * Work hands-on with ML engineers and scientists. Collaborate closely with a cross-functional team of CAD/CAE/ML engineers — from prototype to production-ready solution — to advance what is possible in engineering design with AI. * Enable go-to-market teams. Equip Sales, Solution Engineering, and Marketing with the domain knowledge, value proposition, and materials they need to position the Vehicle solution credibly with senior automotive stakeholders. * Support strategic customers and partners. Represent Neural Concept in high-level technical and strategic discussions, monitor key customer projects within the vertical to ensure alignment and value delivery, and align vertical initiatives with overall company strategy. WHO YOU ARE EXPERIENCE * 10+ years in the automotive industry designing vehicles, in a role such as chief engineer, attribute lead, or technical lead focused on key performance attributes (e.g. aerodynamics, crash/structural safety, thermal). * Proven track record of owning vehicle engineering decisions across the full development cycle: requirements, concept, modeling and simulation, validation, testing, and release. * Experience building and influencing relationships with senior engineering stakeholders at OEMs. HARD SKILLS * Hands-on understanding of CAD, PLM, simulation (CAE), physical and virtual testing, and design for manufacturing. * Fluent in the workflows and tools automotive body engineers use — for example CATIA / NX and Teamcenter / 3DEXPERIENCE (CAD/PLM); LS-DYNA, Pam-Crash, Radioss, Abaqus, Nastran (crash/structural); StarCCM+, OpenFOAM, PowerFLOW (aero/thermal). * Comfortable working with data-driven engineering approaches. MINDSET * Pragmatic problem solver — focused on impact, not buzzwords; willing to look at engineering from a new angle and challenge established ways of working. * Strong customer discovery skills and empathy, with the credibility to engage senior automotive leaders. * Strategic thinker who can move fluidly between long-term direction and hands-on, cross-functional delivery. NICE TO HAVE * Hands-on experience with Python, AI tools, and ML/data-science processes. * Exposure to applying machine learning or surrogate modeling to engineering design. Tags: #Automotive #VehicleBody #Aerodynamics #Crash #Thermal #CAD #CAE #PLM #DFM #SimulationAI #DeepLearning WHAT YOU GET * Work with a world-class technology team — our engineers are top-notch, and we always aim for excellence. * Benefit from a competitive salary and rewarding opportunities as we continue to scale. * Thrive in a collaborative, multicultural environment where your work is visible and recognized. * Develop professionally alongside talented colleagues who share knowledge freely and support one another. * Make a global impact by helping customers shift to AI-assisted design, making innovation faster, smarter, and more sustainable. * Balance life and work with a hybrid model (40% remote) and flexible hours — we care about results, not rigid schedules. WE'RE PROUD TO BE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, AND WE'RE COMMITTED TO BUILDING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU CAN THRIVE.