---
title: 'Drone System Validation Technician and Pilot at Harmattan AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/drone-system-validation-technician-and-pilot-harmattan-ai-rabat-z2eczm57bd4w'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-14'
---

# Drone System Validation Technician and Pilot at Harmattan AI

- **Company:** [Harmattan AI](https://feeny.ai/companies/harmattan-ai)
- **Location:** Rabat, Morocco
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-31
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/harmattan-ai/bc1d12f8-99c8-42d5-bfb6-c5b46cc5715b

## 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 Drone System Validation Technician and Pilot, you are working hand in hand with the validation engineer, you prepare and operate our systems in real conditions, fly them during test campaigns, and turn what you see in the field into clear feedback for engineering.

## What you'll do

- Test support: Work alongside the validation engineer to prepare, set up and run test campaigns; build and prepare the tooling, fixtures and test setups needed to get a campaign off the ground.
- Flight operations: Pilot our drones during tests and act as safety operator, from routine flights to more demanding campaigns.
- Field deployment: Set up the test site from scratch, load and prepare the test vehicle/truck, deploy and connect the systems under test and run the campaign safely.
- Test execution & reporting: Run test protocols and checklists rigorously, and report results, anomalies and their frequency clearly so engineering can act on them.
- Hands-on preparation & upkeep: Prepare, assemble, repair and upgrade the equipment you fly and test (soldering, wiring, mechanical assembly, part replacement) to keep campaigns moving.

## What we're looking for

- Technical degree or equivalent hands-on experience in electronics, mechanics, or RC modeling.
- Confirmed drone pilot.
- Strong manual and technical skills: soldering, wiring, mechanical assembly, and comfort troubleshooting hardware in the field; CAD and 3D printing skills are a strong plus, as much of the tooling and fixtures are designed and produced in-house.
- Organized, rigorous, and safety-conscious, with a genuine hands-on/DIY mindset and eagerness to learn our systems, able to keep consistency across repetitive test cycles.
- Comfortable working outdoors and physically active work, including loading a vehicle and spending full days in the field in all weather.
- Basic Linux familiarity is a plus (operating our systems, fetching and handling logs); a basic understanding of flight-computer/autopilot systems is a bonus.
- Willingness to travel and a valid driving licence: frequent local field campaigns.
- English at a working level (A2 minimum). French or Arabic is a plus.

We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

## About Harmattan AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Harmattan AI builds autonomous defense systems—including strike and surveillance drones—using AI-driven autonomy and real-time intelligence for allied forces.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B, unicorn status)
- **Headquarters**: Paris, France
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Mouad M’Ghari (CEO & Co‑founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Defense & autonomous systems
- **Target customers**: B2G – NATO member states, ministries of defence (UK, France, and others)
- **Mission**: Deliver scalable, sovereign AI capabilities to allied forces by building mission‑ready autonomous systems that respond in real time, adapt under pressure, and deliver an edge in contested environments. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/)

## Products & Services
- **Platform Autonomy**: AI‑driven autonomy layer for drones, enabling real‑time decision‑making and adaptation.
- **Mission Orchestration**: Software for coordinating multiple autonomous assets (e.g., collaborative air combat).
- **Precision Strike**: Attritable strike drones with embedded AI for target engagement.
- **VSHORAD (Very Short‑Range Air Defence)**: Counter‑drone interception systems.
- **Persistent ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance)**: Autonomous surveillance platforms for continuous battlefield awareness.
- **Electronic Warfare Platforms**: Systems for electronic attack and protection. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: $1.4 billion (as of January 2026, after Series B). [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding ~$240 million ($200 M Series B led by Dassault Aviation + over $40 M prior). [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Dassault Aviation (lead investor & strategic partner), multiple NATO allies as customers.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Achieved unicorn status within two years of founding.
  - Awarded several “programs of record” by UK and French Ministries of Defence. [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/)
  - Scaling industrial manufacturing of drone interception and electronic warfare platforms.
  - Headcount grew to 131 employees (Built In estimate). [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/harmattan-ai)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Two‑layer autonomy model**: Combines platform‑level AI with mission‑orchestration software for coordinated, scalable autonomous forces.
- **Sovereign AI**: Focus on delivering non‑dependent capabilities to allied nations, differentiating from US‑centric primes.
- **Attritable systems**: Cost‑effective, expendable drones that enable mass deployment without prohibitive losses.
- **Speed to relevance**: Claims rapid iteration and deployment cycles, with conflict‑ready production. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/)

## Strategic Focus
- Expand product offering into new operational domains (e.g., collaborative air combat with Dassault Aviation).
- Scale industrial manufacturing of drone interception, electronic warfare, and ISR platforms.
- Deepen integration of embedded AI into next‑generation air combat systems (future combat air systems). [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/)

## Why Work Here
- **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](https://harmattan.ai/careers/)
- **Values**: Tackle the hardest problems, build what matters, move at the speed of relevance, and aim to redefine frontiers. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/careers/)
- **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](https://builtin.com/company/harmattan-ai)
- **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.

## Sources
1. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/)
2. [harmattan.ai/careers](https://harmattan.ai/careers/)
3. [harmattan.ai/open-roles](https://harmattan.ai/open-roles)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/harmattan-ai)
5. [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/)

## Other roles at Harmattan AI

- [Program Manager Middle East](https://feeny.ai/job/program-manager-middle-east-harmattan-ai-united-arab-emirates-0z7k98ev5h65) — United Arab Emirates
- [VP Production Morocco](https://feeny.ai/job/vp-production-morocco-harmattan-ai-rabat-kfjmdrb7ygma) — Rabat, Morocco
- [Signal Processing Engineer (RF Processing & Analytics)](https://feeny.ai/job/signal-processing-engineer-rf-processing-analytics-harmattan-ai-paris-hjn8mgsqgzcf) — Paris, France
- [Module Lead, Guidance & Control](https://feeny.ai/job/module-lead-guidance-control-harmattan-ai-zurich-4xhs9vv4betd) — Zurich, Switzerland
- [Module Lead, Guidance & Control](https://feeny.ai/job/module-lead-guidance-control-harmattan-ai-paris-ne6eaja28d11) — Paris, France
- [Module Lead, Guidance & Control](https://feeny.ai/job/module-lead-guidance-control-harmattan-ai-lausanne-5z729t1f5em7) — Lausanne, Switzerland
- [Forward Deployed Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-software-engineer-harmattan-ai-united-arab-emirates-h1ph5ed6wera) — United Arab Emirates
- [Embedded Electrical Engineer - SoM](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-electrical-engineer-som-harmattan-ai-zurich-nfmnmqmj7qkw) — Zurich, Switzerland
- [Embedded Electrical Engineer - SoM](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-electrical-engineer-som-harmattan-ai-lausanne-25bs7fgkpqjz) — Lausanne, Switzerland
- [Product Operations Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/product-operations-intern-harmattan-ai-paris-598y5hqzq0v7) — Paris, France