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