Flight Controls Engineer

Pitch Aeronautics Inc. Flight Controls Engineer Boise, ID · Full time Apply for Flight Controls Engineer

Astria is a custom heavy-lift drone that combines lift motors with a cyclorotor for lateral force. It runs our own Simulink-built controllers on PX4-based flight hardware. It flies real installs on utility lines today. You'll contribute to controller changes from idea to flight. That means modeling the vehicle, designing and tuning the controller, testing it on the stand, flying it with our pilots, and reading the logs to find out what actually happened. It's a small team, so you'll be in the shop and in the field, not just at a desk. We're an AI-driven company. AI tooling runs throughout our engineering workflow, including MATLAB and Simulink work, log analysis, and simulation.

About Pitch Aeronautics Inc. Pitch Aeronautics (www.pitchaero.com) is a rapidly growing startup creating game-changing solutions for the utility industry. Pitch has developed a drone to install our line sensor, bird diverters, and other equipment on power lines. Our drone-deployable line sensors wirelessly transmit environmental and line characteristics to an online secure API to help utilities push more power through existing lines, prevent wildfires, and improve grid reliability. At Pitch we’ve fostered a collaborative, fun, “get-stuff-done” working environment. We believe in moving fast and creating products and prototypes rapidly. If you’re looking for a place where you can make a difference on day one, be empowered to achieve, and love working in small teams, we want to meet you!

Description Responsibilities

• Design, model, and tune flight controllers (attitude, position, altitude, yaw, trim) in MATLAB/Simulink and deploy them to PX4-based flight hardware.
• Build and maintain vehicle dynamics models, including the cyclorotor, and extend our simulation capability (e.g., Gazebo, SITL).
• Write test plans and run test-stand and flight tests with the drone ops crew.
• Analyze flight logs (PX4 ULog) for tracking error, motor saturation, and vibration, and build tools that make that analysis faster.
• Make the controller robust to estimator events such as EKF resets, IMU switches, and GPS dropouts.
• Characterize propulsion (thrust vs. RPM, motor and prop selection) and fold the results back into the control code.
• Develop control for aerial manipulation: precise lateral positioning, wind rejection, and contact with the conductor during sensor install and removal.
• Configure and integrate motor controllers over DroneCAN.
• Document controller design decisions and changes, manage control code in Git, and post clear updates for the team.
• Mentor technicians and interns, and work with pilots on how the aircraft feels to fly.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with a focus on controls.
• 3+ years designing and testing control systems for UAVs, aircraft, or robots, or a graduate degree with significant hands-on flight-test work.
• Strong MATLAB/Simulink skills, including code generation for embedded targets.
• Solid grounding in classical control: PID/PD design, feedforward, saturation and anti-windup, rate and jerk limiting, and frequency-domain analysis.
• Hands-on flight or hardware testing experience, including reading logs to diagnose problems.
• Python for data analysis and tooling; Git.
• Clear technical writing.
• Able to work on-site in Boise and travel occasionally for field tests and installs.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with PX4 or ArduPilot internals (uORB, EKF2) and Pixhawk/Cube hardware.
• Multirotor or unconventional rotorcraft dynamics; cyclorotor experience is a big plus.
• Aerial manipulation or contact control.
• State estimation and sensor fusion.
• Simulation with Gazebo, SITL, or HITL.
• CAN/DroneCAN and motor controller integration.
• FAA Part 107 certificate or piloting experience.
• Master's or PhD in controls, robotics, or aerospace.
• Fluency with AI assistants in engineering work, and enough depth to catch them when they're wrong.

Benefits

• 120 hrs of paid time off
• Health Insurance
• Dental & Vision Insurance
• Short-term disability insurance
• Long-term disability insurance
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Paid holidays
• Flexible work schedule

In accordance with applicable federal regulations and requirements Pitch Aeronautics does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age.

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