Sensor & C2 Integration Engineer

About Alta Ares

Alta Ares is a deeptech startup founded in 2024, building real-time AI for defense operations - ISR, C-UAS, and autonomous systems. Our clients are NATO-aligned militaries and defence institutions, with regular deployments during live exercises and operational demonstrations. We raised €2M seed in May 2025, 50M in June 2026, and are expanding fast.

Our product suite includes:

• Real-time AI ISR module deployable on drones and tactical platforms
• Counter-UAS solution enabling autonomous drone takeover in GNSS-denied environments
• Full-stack MLOps platform for training & deploying military-grade AI models
• Data fusion and trajectory prediction

Role & Mission

As Sensor & C2 Integration Engineer, you will own the interoperability layer that connects Alta Ares' systems to the broader sensor and command-and-control ecosystem of our military and institutional partners.

Your core mission is twofold: ingest and normalize track data from heterogeneous external sources - radar feeds, sensor networks, and tactical data links speaking CoT, ASTERIX, or proprietary partner protocols - and expose Alta Ares' own systems to partner Command & Control (C2) infrastructure through the SAPIENT protocol. You sit at the intersection of protocol engineering, systems integration, and partner-facing technical work, often validating your integrations live alongside partner engineers during joint test campaigns and demonstrations.

This is a role with real architectural responsibility: every new partner integration adds to a portfolio you are accountable for keeping coherent, documented, and maintainable as it scales.

Key Responsibilities
1. Radar & Sensor Track Integration (CoT, ASTERIX, Proprietary Protocols)

• Design, implement, and maintain ingestion pipelines for heterogeneous external track sources: Cursor-on-Target (CoT) XML streams, ASTERIX binary radar feeds, and proprietary partner protocols
• Build and evolve a normalized internal track model that abstracts source-format differences (coordinate frames, update rates, track quality/confidence metrics) for consumption by downstream systems (GCS, fusion, guidance)
• Develop parsers, decoders, and protocol adapters with strict validation against partner ICDs and interface specifications
• Handle multi-sensor track correlation and basic fusion logic: deduplication, track continuity across sensor handoff, timestamp alignment
• Ensure resilience to malformed, late, duplicated, or out-of-order messages from partner systems

2. C2 Integration (SAPIENT)

• Own the integration of Alta Ares' systems with partner Command & Control (C2) infrastructure via the SAPIENT protocol
• Implement and maintain SAPIENT-compliant sensor and fusion nodes: registration, detection reporting, task and command handling, per the SAPIENT interface specification
• Lead technical integration work with partner C2/radar vendors: interface review, joint integration test planning, real-time troubleshooting during demonstrations
• Produce and maintain partner-facing integration deliverables (ICDs, integration overview datasheets), with careful redaction of internal or sensitive parameters before partner delivery
• Track and adapt to partner-specific variants and evolving revisions of the SAPIENT standard

3. Interoperability Architecture & Standards

• Maintain a coherent internal architecture for sensor/C2 interoperability able to scale across a growing portfolio of partner integrations
• Track the evolution of relevant standards (SAPIENT, ASTERIX, CoT, and adjacent tactical data standards) and assess their impact on Alta Ares' integration layer
• Define and enforce internal conventions for track data handling, coordinate transformations, and time synchronization across heterogeneous sources
• Contribute to protocol-selection and architecture decisions for new partner integrations

4. Field Testing & Partner Demonstrations

• Support integration test sessions, technical kick-offs, and live demonstrations with sensor and C2 partners
• Debug interoperability issues in real time during joint trials: protocol mismatches, timing drift, coordinate-frame errors, malformed messages
• Validate end-to-end data flow, from external detection through to track consumption, under operational conditions
• Translate partner feedback into concrete specification and implementation improvements

5. Documentation & Engineering Standards

• Maintain interface control documents (ICDs), integration overview datasheets, and test reports for each partner integration
• Define and enforce coding standards and review processes for the sensor/C2 integration codebase
• Maintain and report on integration status across the full partner portfolio
• Support knowledge transfer and onboarding of other engineers on protocol-specific topics

Candidate Profile
Experience

• 4-7 years of experience in systems integration, defence/C2 systems, radar data processing, or tactical data link engineering
• Demonstrated hands-on, production-grade experience with at least one of: ASTERIX, CoT, or SAPIENT - with working familiarity with the others considered a strong plus
• Proven experience integrating with or building interfaces to radar systems and/or C2 platforms in an operational or near-operational context
• Experience producing and maintaining ICDs or interface specifications for external technical partners
• Prior work in defence, dual-use, or government-related programs is a strong plus
• Familiarity with adjacent NATO/tactical standards (STANAG 4586, Link 16, JREAP-C) is a plus

Technical Skills - You Must Be Able to Do These Yourself

• Strong proficiency in Python and/or C++ for protocol parsing and middleware development
• Binary and XML protocol parsing (ASTERIX categories, CoT XML schema, SAPIENT messages)
• Network protocols used for sensor/C2 data feeds: UDP/TCP, multicast, serial
• Geospatial transformations: coordinate systems (WGS84, ECEF, local NED/ENU) and cross-source time synchronization
• Precise reading and implementation of formal ICDs and interface specifications
• Git-based development workflows in a collaborative engineering environment