Chief Engineer at Harmattan AI (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Harmattan AI· Lausanne, Switzerland·
Role details
Harmattan AI at a glance
France's first defense-tech unicorn, building attritable AI-piloted strike, interception, and ISR drones for allied militaries.
Harmattan AI is a vertically integrated defense prime building autonomous drone systems for allied militaries. It designs the full stack, from airframes and payloads to embedded compute and the autonomy algorithms that let drones sense, decide, and act at the edge without GPS or a network link, coordinated across a swarm by its mission-orchestration layer.
$242M raised · latest: Series B · $200M · January 2026 · backed by Dassault Aviation, FirstMark Capital, Atlantic, Motier Ventures
Summary
The Chief Engineer owns the architecture, system definition, and implementation of autonomous defense robotic systems from concept to field deployment. This role involves leading cross-functional design teams, conducting trade-off analyses, and overseeing integration and validation to ensure system performance and r...
Job description
ABOUT US
Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces.
Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected.
About the Role
As a Chief Engineer, you will own the architecture, system definition and implementation of one of our robotic systems — from concept to field deployment. You will work hand-in-hand with project managers and technical leads to translate mission needs into system-level designs, coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams, and ensure overall system performance, robustness, and reliability.
Responsibilities
- System Architecture: Transform system requirements into architectures solutions.
- Technical Coordination: Lead cross-functional design across mechanical, electrical, software, GNC, and ML teams.
- Trade-Off & Design Analysis: Conduct feasibility studies, trade-off analyses, and system-level simulations to guide technical choices.
- Integration & Validation: Oversee system integration, prototyping, and validation, ensuring performance targets are achieved.
- System Reviews: Drive design and architecture reviews, maintaining consistency between requirements, design, and testing.
- Continuous Improvement: Implement processes to enhance requirements traceability, system documentation, and validation workflows.
Candidate Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in system engineering within robotics, aerospace, or defense sectors.
- MSc in Engineering (any field); PhD is a plus.
- Proven experience leading full system lifecycles (concept → prototype → validation).
- Strong background in system architecture, requirements engineering, and trade-off analysis.
- Broad engineering culture with understanding of mechanical, electrical, and embedded systems.
- Experience coordinating multi-disciplinary teams and managing technical interfaces.
- Rigorous, structured, and mission-driven mindset with strong analytical skills.
- Excellent communication and documentation abilities.
- Bonus: Experience with UAS or defense systems.
We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.
Why work at Harmattan AI
- Culture: “Elite builders” who “thrive on complexity, move with urgency, and own their work end to end.” Emphasis on purpose, technical excellence, and real‑world impact. harmattan.ai
- Values: Tackle the hardest problems, build what matters, move at the speed of relevance, and aim to redefine frontiers. harmattan.ai
- Work policy: Hybrid model with a mix of remote and on‑site; many roles are in‑office at locations in Paris, Lausanne, London, Arlington (TX), Wissous, Poland, UAE, and Morocco. builtin.com
- Engineering culture: Hands‑on development of mission‑critical autonomous systems; strong R&D focus across AI, computer vision, RF hardware, propulsion, and mission planning.
- Perks: Not explicitly listed, but the company highlights the opportunity to protect front‑line personnel and shape the future of autonomous defence.