This role owns autonomy at the system level.
You will define how perception, state estimation, planning, and flight behaviors work together to enable reliable, real-world operation. You are responsible for making the full autonomy stack work in practice, not just in isolation.
This is a hands-on leadership role. You will guide a small team while directly contributing to architecture, implementation, and flight debugging. Your work will directly determine whether aircraft complete missions safely and consistently.
What You'll Do:- Own the end-to-end autonomy stack across perception, state estimation, planning, and system behavior
>- Define system architecture and make tradeoffs across performance, reliability, and complexity
>- Lead and mentor engineers while contributing directly to critical parts of the stack
>- Drive integration across GNC, hardware, and mission planning systems
>- Define how autonomy is validated across simulation, ground testing, and flight testing
>- Debug real-world failures using flight data, logs, and system-level analysis
>- Identify gaps in the current system and drive changes needed for reliable deployment
>- Set execution standards for autonomy development and delivery
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What You'll Bring:- Experience owning or driving autonomy systems on real robotic or UAV platforms operating outside controlled environments
>- Deep understanding of at least one autonomy domain (perception, estimation, planning, or navigation) and strong working knowledge across the full stack
>- Experience taking systems from early development through real-world deployment and iteration
>- Strong proficiency in C++ and Python
>- Experience working across software, hardware, and field or flight operations
>- Ability to make practical tradeoffs under real constraints and deliver working systems
>- Experience leading engineers or owning technical direction
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Bonus Points If You Have:- Experience with autonomous aircraft or aerial systems
>- Background in robotics, computer vision, or motion planning
>- Experience with real-time or embedded systems
>- Familiarity with ROS2 or similar robotics frameworks
>- Experience building simulation environments tied to real-world validation
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Want to join our mission? Apply to learn more!Due to U.S. government contract requirements, this role is limited to U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or candidates from specific countries authorized under applicable export control regulations.
