About Us:
Superwake is an aerospace and defense company based in North York, focused on the design, manufacturing, and operation of advanced uncrewed aerial vehicles. Our work combines aerospace engineering and modern manufacturing to create reliable aircraft designed for a variety of applications.
Superwake is a small, fast-moving team where engineers and technicians work directly on complete aircraft systems, from early design and prototyping to testing and real-world operations.
About the Role:
We are hiring a UAV Systems Integration & Test Specialist to integrate our subsystems and validate them as a complete aircraft. At Superwake, small teams develop avionics, software, mechanical, and power systems in parallel, and this role is responsible for the interfaces between them. This is a mid-level role for someone who excels at hands-on testing, debugging, and cross-disciplinary problem-solving rather than design. You will conduct bench and flight validation and work with engineering, QA, and our flight operations team to resolve issues uncovered during testing. Our Quality Assurance function validates individual components against their requirements; this role focuses on how those components work together.
Responsibilities:Integration and Test:
- Integrate subsystems from separate engineering teams, first on the bench and then in the aircraft.
- Read schematics, wiring diagrams, pinouts, interface specifications, mechanical drawings, and CAD assemblies to plan how a subsystem will be tested.
- Plan and run bench validation, integration testing, and regression checks against acceptance criteria defined by engineering.
- Operate and expand existing test rigs and validation tools, including scripts, fixtures, and test profiles.
- Identify conflicts between physical, electrical, and RF constraints, including envelopes, clearances, and keep-out areas, before detailed designs are finalized.
Firmware Configuration:
- Maintain controlled configurations for autopilot and CAN peripheral firmware under the direction of the engineering lead. Qualify each release against a defined regression suite, document the results, and recommend whether it is ready for deployment.
- Review upstream ArduPilot changes to assess their impact on our board definitions, peripherals, and parameter sets, and manage parameter differences between versions.
- Track which firmware version, parameter set, and source commit is running on each airframe and CAN node.
Flight Operations Support:
- Partner with flight operations to translate engineering acceptance criteria into the information needed to develop test cards, and participate in briefings and debriefings.
- Support ground and flight testing in the field, including instrumentation, telemetry monitoring, and data capture, while following applicable aviation regulations and safety protocols.
- Turn flight logs and crew observations into findings that engineering can act on, and bring operational and crew considerations into design reviews.
Investigation and Documentation:
- Reproduce, isolate, and document integration failures. Distinguish genuine defects from configuration and test setup problems, then work with the responsible engineer to resolve each issue.
- Read firmware and application code to trace logic and identify where observed behaviour diverges from intended behaviour.
- Capture and decode bus and network traffic to determine what data subsystems exchange and identify messages that are missing, malformed, or delayed.
- Write test plans, test records, and defect reports that are clear enough for others to follow.
What You Bring:Required Qualifications:
Candidates often come from one of two backgrounds: systems testing and debugging or UAV autopilot systems. You do not need deep experience in both. If you are strong in one area and have a working knowledge of the other, we encourage you to apply. We look for debugging ability, systems thinking, and hands-on competence, and we will help you develop the rest.
- 2 to 5 years of hands-on experience in hardware integration, systems test, validation, or a closely related role.
- Technical diploma or degree in electrical, computer, mechatronics, or aerospace engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
- Ability to read electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, pinouts, and interface specifications, and to test against them.
- Ability to read mechanical drawings and CAD assemblies to assess envelopes, clearances, keep-outs, mounting, and access.
- Ability to read Python or C/C++ well enough to follow control flow and determine whether observed behaviour matches the intended logic.
- Working knowledge of packet- and message-level communication protocols for at least one of the following: CAN, serial, or IP-based systems. Ability to capture and decode traffic is also required.
- Experience managing firmware, software, or configuration data across multiple devices, including versioning, settings management, and log analysis. Records must be accurate enough to trace a deployed build to its source and settings.
- Ability to learn an unfamiliar codebase or ecosystem using its documentation, source code, and community resources.
- Hands-on bench debugging experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, bench power supplies, and electronic loads.
- Demonstrated ability to isolate faults and determine whether they originate in hardware, firmware, software, configuration, or the test setup.
- Comfort working in Linux environments, including embedded targets, log management, and SSH.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills in English. Test records, defect reports, and runbooks are core deliverables of this role.
- Detail-oriented and safety-minded, with the ability to balance planning, execution, analysis, and documentation in both lab and field environments while working alongside engineers, QA, technicians, and flight crews.
- Valid driver's license. Ability and willingness to work outdoors in Canadian winters and summers and to lift up to 50 lbs.
Additional Qualifications:Experience in one or more of the following areas is an asset:
- UAV, aviation, robotics, or other safety-relevant integrated systems.
- Autopilot ecosystems such as ArduPilot or PX4, including ground control station software, parameter management, and software-in-the-loop (SITL) simulation.
- ArduPilot build toolchain, custom board definitions, or AP_Periph peripheral firmware.
- Debugging I2C, SPI, or other peripheral buses and configuring onboard networks.
- Sensor instrumentation, data acquisition, automated test tools, or data-logging pipelines.
- Power systems, battery-powered platforms, or power distribution.
- Wiring harnesses and cable documentation.
- Formal acceptance criteria, traceability, or regulated validation processes.
- Hands-on experience with CAD tools such as CATIA or SolidWorks.
- Basic or Advanced Transport Canada RPAS pilot certificate, or willingness to obtain one.
- Field or flight test operations support, including crew briefs and debriefs.
- Standard operating procedures, checklists, or emergency procedures.
- Lua scripting for autopilot behaviour.
- Exposure to flight controls or system identification.
Work Model:
- Location: Full-time Onsite
- Employment Type: Full-time
- Reporting To: Engineering Lead
- Travel: Must be willing to travel for field and flight test campaigns, approximately 2 weeks per year
Compensation and Benefits:
- Salary range: $70,000 - $80,000/year
- Health and Wellness: All full-time employees will have access to our health and dental benefits plan.
- Vacation/PTO: We offer generous vacation and PTO to ensure you have the time off you need to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
- Compensation will reflect the candidate’s demonstrated experience.
Why Superwake?:
At Superwake, you will experience a fast-paced work environment while working with a close-knit team. Our team prides itself on offering a welcoming, team-focused environment and aims to provide everyone with the necessary tools for success. For more information about our company, visit www.superwake.ca (http://www.superwake.ca/).
Everyone is Welcome in our Airspace:
At Superwake, we believe in providing an inclusive environment for everyone to share their ideas and grow. Without you, we cannot continue to grow as a company. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We are committed to being an equal opportunity employer and will provide accommodations upon request throughout our process.
**This posting is for an active role to fill a current opening**
