About the Company

Kova Labs exists to redefine how humans and machines fight together, building autonomous systems that protect the free world and secure Europe’s sovereignty. We believe autonomy is not just the next step in defence: it is the foundational layer of future sovereignty.

From dense Nordic forests to contested zones where GPS and comms fail, we develop mission-critical autonomy for aerial operations. By taking over navigation, perception, and execution in the hardest environments, our systems free warfighters to focus on what only humans can do: judgment, strategy, and command. This is the next level of soldier-machine collaboration.

We begin by unlocking under-canopy autonomy: enabling drones to operate where others fail. In the long term, we are delivering autonomy that is accessible, scalable, and ever-present across every domain of the battlefield. Backed by Lifeline Ventures & others, we are building a future where autonomous systems are a force multiplier, not a burden.

We are hiring people who want to build something that matters. All roles are centered at our new HQ in the Helsinki region.

The Role

We’re looking for exceptional software engineers, builders who love starting from zero and pushing projects all the way to the finish line. In this role, you’ll be responsible for the core software that powers our autonomy stack: how missions are planned, how systems react in the field, and how humans and machines collaborate under real-world pressure.

You’ll work across a broad surface area, from mission-planning interfaces and backend systems to fail-safe protocols and edge-level optimization. One week, you might be designing control logic to keep drones operational under jamming, the next building the tools that let operators deploy autonomous missions with confidence.

If you have strong engineering skills, care deeply about reliability and robustness, and want to work on the software that brings our systems to life in the field, this is the role for you. You’ll be building products that don’t just work; they work when nothing else does.

What You'll Do

• Own the autonomy stack’s software backbone, from mission planning to operator interfaces and backend services.
• Design and implement fail-safe logic and fallback protocols that keep systems operational in contested, degraded, or unpredictable conditions.
• Build robust, high-performance software in Python and C++ for edge devices and constrained environments.
• Integrate software tightly with hardware and autonomy systems, ensuring smooth collaboration between navigation, perception, and mission execution.
• Develop CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and deployment tooling that enable rapid, reliable iteration.
• Collaborate across disciplines, from computer vision and systems to field operations, to turn research ideas and operator feedback into production-ready features.
• Push new capabilities like cybersecurity hardening, onboard diagnostics, and post-mission analytics to expand what our platforms can do.

What We're Looking for

• Strong skills in Python, C++, and Rust, and a full-stack mindset that thrives on building complete solutions.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines, testing infrastructure, and deployment systems for production environments.
• Ability to optimize code for edge devices and resource-constrained platforms.
• Familiarity with mission-planning systems, robotics middleware, and fail-safe logic design.
• Comfortable working end-to-end: from backend architecture to operator-facing software and field deployment.
• You’re scrappy and outcome-driven, someone who ships, iterates, and improves quickly.
• You care about real-world reliability and building systems that perform when conditions are at their worst.