Datalink Integration & Test Engineer – Communications / MANET (all genders)

About the role

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.
As a Datalink Integration & Test Engineer , you will play a key role in bringing together complex software systems that power our next generation of autonomous platforms. 
Your mission is to take established, proven MANET (mobile ad-hoc network) radio systems and make them work — reliably, repeatably, and under real-world constraints — inside our unmanned platforms. In this role you focus on the datalinks for our close- and short-range loitering effector and ISR systems, where the link has to stay solid through fast-moving, time-critical mission profiles in contested airspace. You own the path from "commercial radio in a box" to "integrated, tested, mission-ready datalink."
This is a hands-on integration and test role at the boundary of RF hardware, networking, and platform architecture. You own two connections that have to hold up when it counts: the command-and-control link between UAV and ground control station (GCS), and the mesh that lets multiple effectors operate as a coordinated swarm. You aren't just wiring in a radio; you are certifying that command and control survives contact with the real world, and giving the engineering team the hard data to trust it.
Integration
Integrate established MANET / mesh radio systems (e.g., Silvus StreamCaster, Persistent Systems Wave Relay, Rajant, Radionor) into STARK's platform architecture across the mechanical, power, RF, and network/software interfaces.
Define and implement the integration approach for each datalink — antenna placement, RF front-end, IP networking, and interfacing with the autopilot and payload stack.
Integrate and configure the UAV-to-GCS command-and-control link, ensuring reliable telemetry, control, and video across the full mission profile through to the terminal phase.
Set up and tune multi-node mesh topologies that enable UAV-to-UAV connectivity and coordinated swarm operation of multiple effectors, including relay and self-healing behaviour.
Work closely with hardware, autopilot, and systems engineering to ensure the communication subsystem is correctly matched to the platform and its constraints.
Test & Validation
Design and execute structured test campaigns — bench, hardware-in-the-loop, and field trials — to validate datalink behaviour.
Characterise link performance across throughput, latency, range, mesh routing behaviour, and resilience under interference and degraded conditions.
Validate swarm behaviour at the network level — multi-node mesh scaling, UAV-to-UAV and UAV-to-GCS connectivity, relay hops, and graceful degradation as nodes join, move, or drop out.
Build up repeatable test procedures and instrumentation, and produce clear, traceable documentation of setups, methods, and results.
Collaboration & Continuous Improvement
Translate field and test findings into concrete integration and configuration improvements.
Support trade-offs and selection decisions between candidate datalink systems with measured, defensible data.
Contribute to the evolution of STARK's communication integration standards and test methodology.
Experience & Certifications
Professional background in Electronics / Communications Engineering or a comparable technical field.
Hands-on experience integrating MANET / mesh radio or tactical datalink systems into a larger platform or system.
Practical test and measurement experience (spectrum analysers, RF link testing, network diagnostics).
Must be a citizen of a NATO member state (due to export control and security regulations).
Technical Background
Solid grounding in RF fundamentals and antenna/propagation basics.
Strong understanding of IP networking, routing, and the OSI model as it applies to mesh and point-to-point links.
Comfortable working in Linux networking environments and debugging at the hardware/software boundary.
Structured, disciplined approach to test design, execution, and documentation.
Profile
Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
Analytical, thorough, and outcome-oriented — you want the integration to be clean and the results to hold up, not just to work once.
Hands-on experience with specific MANET vendor ecosystems and their management/config tooling.
Knowledge of tactical datalink bands, waveforms, FHSS, and encryption.
Familiarity with military communication standards and secure over-the-air transmission.
Scripting / embedded experience (Python, C++) for test automation and instrumentation.
​For more ​details please reach out to Sally Grütte-Pad, Interim Lead TA Partner via talent@stark-defence.com