Payload Integration Manager (All genders)

STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionising 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 — providing operators with a decisive edge in contested environments.

We are 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.

You’ll be the technical glue holding together a fast-moving hardware and payload integration environment.

The person who turns parallel engineering workstreams into one working system instead of seven disconnected ones.

Acting as direct technical counterpart to our integration lead, you’ll bring process discipline and hands‑on execution to a function that’s still being built.

This is not a coordination role with a Power Point deck attached, it’s a seat at the bench, with the authority and technical credibility to make decisions stick.

Responsibilities

• Own day‑to‑day technical integration across hardware, payload, and embedded subsystems, working directly with engineering teams to resolve interface conflicts as they arise.
• Apply discipline across integration activities, maintaining traceability between requirements, design, and verification.
• Translate requirements and constraints between hardware, software, payload, and systems engineering teams, closing ambiguity at the interfaces rather than escalating it.
• Identify and resolve technical dependencies across teams before they become integration blockers, not after.
• Introduce structure, documentation, and change control into an integration function that doesn’t have it yet, without freezing the speed the program needs.
• Work hands‑on with engineers on the test floor and at the bench when a problem needs solving in person, not via status update.
• Act as a technical sparring partner to the integration lead, sharing context and pressure‑testing decisions across the integration scope.
• Shape the build‑out of the wider integration team, contributing to role definition and technical interviewing as the team scales.
• Report integration status, risks, and blockers in terms program leadership can act on, translating engineering reality into business decisions.

Qualifications

• Proven system integration experience in hardware, payload, embedded, defence, or aviation environments.
• Technical depth strong enough to work as a peer with engineers, not just manage their timelines.
• Track record owning technical dependencies and interfaces across multiple engineering disciplines simultaneously.
• Background in either systems/hardware engineering or technical program management, with hands‑on integration exposure either way.
• Experience on complex, multi‑team technical programs, defence, aerospace, automotive, or comparably regulated sectors.
• A pragmatic, low‑ego, execution‑first operating style: you bring structure to chaos, you don’t wait for chaos to resolve itself.
• Fluent German and professional English. You’ll work directly with German‑speaking engineering teams daily.
• Nice to have
• Experience building or scaling a technical/integration team from scratch.
• Background in UAS, C‑UAS, or loitering munition systems specifically.
• Familiarity with formal systems engineering tooling (requirements management, configuration/change control platforms).
• Prior experience in a scale‑up or fast‑growth engineering environment.

If you’re interested in building the future of European Defence with us, and you see yourself reflected on the description above, please send us your

CV in English . We´re looking forward to meeting you!

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