Chief Engineer

About the Role

Imagine this. You are not just optimizing a system, you are defining an entirely new aerospace product from the first principles. You take an ambiguous, high-stakes challenge and turn it into a clear architecture, a working system, and a real flying platform. This role is about ownership at the deepest technical level, where product vision meets hard engineering reality and speed matters as much as precision.

At Destinus, we are revolutionizing the defense industry with cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAVs. Our innovative technologies are designed to meet the unique demands of modern defense operations, delivering unparalleled speed, precision, and cost effectiveness. Destinus partners with government agencies and defense organizations worldwide to provide advanced solutions for mission-critical operations, enabling a new era of efficiency and technological superiority. Join us in shaping the future of defense with groundbreaking aerospace innovations.

What You´ll Do

• You define the system objective function and translate mission needs into a coherent product architecture that actually works in the real world
• You connect the dots across controls, sensing, navigation, software, propulsion, avionics, and test strategy, making sure everything serves the product, not the other way around
• You lead architecture decisions and make tough trade-offs, deciding what to build, what to buy, and what to challenge
• You create fast design test learn loops, turning uncertainty into validated knowledge through simulation, hardware testing, and iteration
• You build and lead a small elite engineering team, setting the technical bar high and keeping execution sharp and focused
• You identify the highest risk areas early and design experiments that reduce those risks quickly and decisively
• You drive the system from concept to demonstrator, aligning technical credibility with scalability and real product outcomes

What You’ll Need

• Strong academic foundation in aerospace engineering, physics, robotics, control systems, or a related field
• Deep understanding of dynamics, estimation, controls, and system level thinking
• Proven experience working on high dynamic or high reliability systems, ideally through full test or flight cycles
• Ability to move seamlessly between architecture design, simulation, coding, and hands-on testing
• Experience with system trade studies, simulation environments, and integrating complex subsystems into a unified product
• Solid coding and modeling skills with a practical mindset
• Experience using AI tools to accelerate engineering workflows in real, tangible ways
• Ability to lead technical teams while staying hands-on and close to the core engineering work

Who You Are

You think in systems, not silos. You are driven by building real products, not just elegant ideas. You are comfortable with ambiguity and move fast to create clarity through action. When others debate, you test. When others optimize subsystems, you focus on the full product. You take ownership of hard problems and push them forward with intensity and discipline. You value small, high-performing teams and believe speed, first principles, and technical depth beat bureaucracy every time.