System Engineer – UUV

Location: Valkenburg, Netherlands | Hybrid
Language: English C1
Industry: Autonomous Maritime / Defense Technology

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the complete physical and system architecture of autonomous underwater vehicles.
• Own and manage mass, power, navigation, communication, drag, and buoyancy budgets.
• Lead multidisciplinary engineering teams through vehicle design and development.
• Integrate high-voltage batteries, sensors, control systems, communication systems, and other payloads.
• Manage trade-offs between payload, speed, endurance, mass, and vehicle performance.
• Ensure system performance under demanding underwater conditions.
• Lead Assembly, Integration & Test (AIT) activities.
• Plan and execute system-level testing, qualification, and operational trials.
• Drive Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) testing and validation.
• Support the transition from digital models to physical prototypes.
• Work across mechanical, electrical, acoustic, avionics, and systems engineering during early development.
• Plan future vehicle upgrades and system improvements.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to a multidisciplinary engineering team.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in Systems Engineering, preferably involving complex vehicles.
• Proven experience leading the complete physical design lifecycle of complex platforms.
• Experience with UUV/AUV, subsea, maritime, aerospace, motorsport, or other high-performance vehicles.
• Strong experience in Assembly, Integration, Testing and Operations (AIT).
• Experience managing mass, power, drag, buoyancy and performance budgets.
• Strong understanding of highly constrained physical environments.
• Experience with watertight integrity, shock/vibration, thermal management, or similar engineering challenges.
• Degree in Systems Engineering, Naval Architecture, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong English communication skills (C1 level).
• Must be a Dutch or NATO-country national and eligible for security clearance.