Senior Software Engineer - Mission Autonomy (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

As a Senior Software Engineer, Mission Autonomy , build the intelligence behind real UAV swarming - the algorithms that decide which vehicle attacks which target, how the swarm re-organises when conditions change mid-mission, and how 4+ loitering munitions coordinate autonomously to overwhelm adversary defences.

You will design and implement the swarm decision-making layer at the heart of Minerva Frontline, our Mission Management Software. This means building the optimisation and planning algorithms that sit above our existing mission planning engine, turning a set of operator-level objectives and battlefield conditions into coordinated, multi-vehicle strike missions—then dynamically re-planning them when the battlefield shifts.

This is Genesis-stage work. There is no off-the-shelf library for what we're building. You will work shoulder-to-shoulder with our Software Architect and our backend team to take swarm coordination from concept to live flight demonstration. If you want to solve hard multi-agent problems that have real consequences in the physical world, this is the role.

Responsibilities

• Architect the Swarm Brain: Design and implement the task allocation engines (auction-based allocation, Hungarian method, constraint satisfaction) that optimally assign multiple vehicles to multiple targets in high-threat environments.

• Build Dynamic Re-Planning Loops: Develop real-time, deterministic algorithms that allow a swarm to adapt mid-flight. When threats appear, targets move, or a drone is jammed, your software will re-evaluate the entire battlefield and push new coordinates instantly.

• Own the Optimization Layer: Build the high-level planning architecture that sits above our static mission routing engine. Your layer will decompose abstract operator objectives into specific vehicle assignments.

• Simulate and Fly: Own our Software-in-the-Loop (SITL) environment to ruthlessly test and break swarm behaviors with 4+ virtual vehicles. Once validated in simulation, you will step out into the field to deploy your code onto live aircraft.

Qualifications

• Production-Grade Modern C++: Python is fine for math prototyping, but our production engine runs on C++ where latency, memory efficiency, and deterministic reliability are non-negotiable. You must be comfortable owning and scaling this codebase.

• 5+ Years of Autonomy/Robotics Experience: You have a proven track record of taking complex motion planning, routing, or distributed coordination algorithms out of theory and shipping them into production or rugged field environments.

• Mathematical Fluency: Deep expertise in combinatorial optimization, graph theory, and multi-agent coordination. If we hand you a research paper on CBBA (Consensus-Based Bundle Algorithm), you can map out a working C++ prototype by the end of the week.

• Systems-Level Thinking: You don't build algorithms in a vacuum. You care about how your planning layer interfaces with gRPC services, telemetry feeds, state management, and the operator's user interface.

• High Agency & Field Mentality: You don't wait for product managers to write perfect specifications. You define the problem mathematically, build the solution, and travel to live flight trials to watch your code execute in the real world.