Director of Engineering - UAS

Director of Engineering - UAS

Harmattan AI

Lausanne, Switzerland

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.