
Validation Engineer at Harmattan AI (Rabat, Morocco)
Harmattan AI· Rabat, Morocco·
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
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 Validation Engineer, you will play a critical role in validating the performance, reliability, and operational readiness of our autonomous defense systems. You will lead test campaigns on our own systems to inform internal development and maintain a competitive edge.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Validation strategy & test design: Define what "validated" means for a system, design the test plans and scenarios that will prove it, and decide what to measure and how to judge pass/fail.
- Build the validation toolkit: Starting from the design phase of the new platform, create the procedures, tooling and test methods, software and hardware, that its validation will depend on.
- Run campaigns & analyse results: Plan and lead test campaigns (in the field and using our simulation/bench tools), then analyse the data rigorously to separate real issues from noise and quantify performance.
- Close the loop with engineering: Report defects, anomalies and their frequency clearly, and work with the design teams to drive fixes and product maturity.
- Support the wider group: Occasionally contribute to validation trials for the rest of the teams, bringing back data and lessons learned.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- Engineering degree (or equivalent experience) in aerospace, mechatronics, electronics, robotics, or a related field.
- 10+ years of experience in validation, test engineering, flight testing or a closely related discipline, ideally on aerospace or robotic systems.
- A structured, systems-level approach: designing test plans, defining metrics, a statistical mindset for noisy flight data, and the ability to reason about a whole platform (airframe, avionics, GNC, RF) rather than a single subsystem.
- Comfortable in the field: hands-on setup and execution of outdoor campaigns, with enough piloting interest/ability to work closely with the technician
- Clear communicator, able to document rigorously and feed results back to engineering teams; able to manage a small team and work with varied backgrounds.
- Working-level English; French or Arabic is a strong plus.
- Valid driving licence and willingness to travel for field campaigns, with occasional trips abroad
- Bonus: experience with autopilots/flight computers, telemetry and log analysis, basic Linux.
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.