Senior Software Engineer – Integration and Deployment (All Genders)

About Us STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionizing the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost-effective. This provides our operators with a decisive edge in highly contested environments.

We’re focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems—not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe—today. About the team Minerva is STARK's command and control software — the brain that connects operators to autonomous systems across multiple domains in real time. The Minerva team is a small, senior software group based in Berlin and Munich, working directly with our systems and hardware teams to build mission-critical C2 capabilities deployed in active operational environments.

We move fast, ship real software, and operate under constraints most engineers never encounter low-bandwidth networks, air-gapped devices, high-stakes decision loops. There is no room for abstraction for its own sake. Everything we build ends up in the hands of real operators in the field. Your mission

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer - who is the technical face of Minerva Frontline for our internal hardware teams, early-adopter customers and programme partners. You deploy the Frontline into new internal and customer projects, own the integration, and earn trust through engineering credibility, not project management.

You operate at the intersection of software, hardware, and operational reality: standing up the C++ backend that orchestrates UAV swarms, integrating new platforms against a live system, and ensuring command and control flows flawlessly in air-gapped, bandwidth-constrained tactical environments. When something breaks in the field, you fix it on-site, under time pressure, with the customer watching.

Responsibilities

• Deploy & Integrate: You will stand up and configure Minerva Frontline in customer environments, including edge-deployed hardware, constrained networks, and field infrastructure. You will own the integration of new UAV platforms and features with Frontline.

• Diagnose & Fix: You will be the technical authority on-site. When swarm telemetry degrades, gRPC connectivity fails, or a MAVLink intent doesn't translate to physical drone execution, you diagnose and resolve it - in real time.

• Bridge the Gap: You translate operational feedback from customers and pilots into precise, actionable engineering requirements. You will work directly with other engineering teams to drive fixes, improvements, and platform support back into the product.

• Prove the System: You will participate directly in flight-test campaigns, validating that software intents map flawlessly to physical drone execution in real-world, contested environments.

• Build Tooling: Where standard tooling falls short in the field, you build your own - scripts, diagnostic utilities, integration harnesses - to make deployments repeatable and resilient.

• Field-Ready: you will be also be stepping away from the desk and work directly in the field with hardware engineers, drones, and test equipment. Travel to customer sites and test ranges is a core part of this role.
  
  

Qualifications

• B.Sc/M.Sc in Computer Science, Robotics, Systems Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Deep expertise in modern C++ (17/20/23) - comfortable reading, debugging, and patching a production C++ codebase
• Built and deployed complex distributed systems
• Hands-on experience with real-time distributed systems, gRPC, Flatbuffers, WebSockets, or MAVLink/MAVSDK.
• Demonstrated experience deploying software systems with external clients
• Proven willingness and capability to work hands-on with hardware teams during flight testing and platform integration.
• Able to travel within Germany - up to 40%
• Security: Due to the nature of our work, candidates must be eligible to obtain appropriate security clearance.

If you´re interested in building the future of European Defence with us, and you see yourself reflected in the description above,please send us your CV in English. We´re looking forward to meeting you!