Senior Staff Application Technology Architect – Drone & UAV Applications

Job Title

Senior Staff Application Technology Architect – Drone & UAV Applications

Role Summary

The Senior Staff Application Technology Architect will be Renesas' global technical lead for Drone and UAV applications, defining end-to-end system architectures and shaping solution roadmaps for industrial, commercial, and defense UAV platforms.

This role bridges customer requirements, aviation regulations, ecosystem partners, and semiconductor product engineering to drive adoption of semiconductor-based UAV solutions.

Experience Level

Senior - typically 8+ years of relevant experience in drone, UAV, aerospace, robotics, autonomous systems, or embedded-system development.

Responsibilities

Design and drive system-level solutions and guide integration from architecture through validation and fielding.

• Define and own end-to-end system architectures covering flight control, mission computing, sensing, propulsion, power, connectivity, and ground-control interfaces.
• Translate customer use cases and mission requirements into system, hardware, software, safety, security, and interface requirements.
• Drive HW/SW partitioning across MCUs, MPUs/SoCs, AI accelerators, programmable logic, sensors, connectivity devices, power electronics, and actuators.
• Define architectures for flight control, sensor fusion, navigation, stabilization, autonomous mission execution, obstacle detection, and collision avoidance.
• Specify and integrate sensing solutions (IMUs, GNSS/RTK, cameras, radar, LiDAR, ultrasonic, barometric, environmental sensors).
• Define compute architectures for edge AI, computer vision, visual-inertial odometry, SLAM, object detection, tracking, and autonomous decision-making.
• Develop communication architectures for command & control, telemetry, payload data, Remote ID, V2V links, cloud connectivity, and ground-control systems.
• Define power and propulsion architectures including battery management, power conversion/distribution, motor control, energy optimization, and thermal management.
• Ensure safety, reliability, cybersecurity, redundancy, fault containment, degraded-operation modes, and fail-safe behaviors are designed in.
• Collaborate with product, hardware, software, AI, connectivity, power, motor-control, security, and validation teams; engage OEMs and ecosystem partners; and contribute reference architectures and evaluation platforms.

Requirements

Must-have technical experience and proven systems-architecture delivery in UAV projects.

• 8+ years of experience in drone, UAV, aerospace, robotics, autonomous-system, or embedded-system development with significant system-architecture and integration responsibility.
• Proven systems engineer or system architect experience in development of industrial and/or defense drone platforms (System Architect, Chief Engineer, Technical Lead, or similar).
• Hands-on contribution to at least one UAV platform through architecture, development, system integration, verification, flight testing, and product deployment.
• Deep understanding of UAV subsystems: flight controllers, mission computers, avionics, propulsion, power systems, payloads, communication links, and ground-control systems.
• Strong knowledge of embedded systems: MCUs, MPUs/SoCs, real-time software, embedded Linux, RTOS platforms, and heterogeneous computing architectures.
• Strong experience in flight control, estimation, sensor fusion, navigation, GNSS/RTK, perception, autonomy, or other safety- and mission-critical UAV functions.

Nice-to-have:

• Familiarity with PX4, ArduPilot, ROS 2, MAVLink, DDS, or similar UAV/robotics frameworks.
• Experience with aviation safety practices and regulations (EASA/FAA UAV regs, Remote ID, BVLOS) and standards such as DO-178C/DO-254/ARP4754A/ARP4761.
• Edge AI, computer vision, SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, radar/LiDAR perception, and AI accelerator experience.
• Background in electric propulsion, motor control, battery management, or power electronics for aerial systems.
• Experience with cybersecurity, GNSS resilience/anti-jamming, simulation, model-based systems engineering, SIL/HIL, or certification support.

Education Requirements

Master's or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, Systems Engineering, or a related field.

About the Company

Company: Renesas

Headquarters: Hitachinaka, Japan

Renesas is a global leader in embedded semiconductor solutions, providing high-quality products across automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT sectors. With over 22,000 employees in more than 30 countries, the company focuses on scalable solutions that enhance user experience and drive innovation while committed to sustainability and energy efficiency.