Software and Autonomy Engineering Lead

Position OverviewWe are seeking a Software and Autonomy Engineering Lead to own technical direction for our full autonomy software stack from embedded firmware through perception and into higher autonomous targeting behaviors. This role leads the engineering team building computer vision, sensor fusion, targeting, and control systems that operate on constrained edge hardware in dynamic, contested environments.You will set architecture and coding standards across firmware and software, mentor and grow the engineering team, and personally develop perception and autonomy systems from prototyping through field deployment. ResponsibilitiesTechnical LeadershipSet technical direction and architecture standards spanning firmware and autonomy softwareLead, mentor, and help grow a small team of firmware and software engineersOwn build vs. buy and make vs. partner decisions for perception and autonomy componentsPartner with hardware and program management on system-level tradeoffs Perception & AutonomyDevelop and deploy real-time object detection, classification, and tracking systems for small, fast-moving aerial and ground targetsOptimize models for edge deployment in constrained environmentsBuild multi-sensor perception pipelines that enable sensor fusionBuild robustness for real-world conditionsIntegrate perception outputs into downstream tracking and effector control systems Firmware & Systems IntegrationOversee firmware architecture for sensor drivers, real-time OS scheduling, and hardware controlsEnsure clean interfaces between firmware, perception, and targeting layersSupport field testing, integration, and troubleshooting across the full stack Required Skills and ExperienceExperience leading or mentoring a software/firmware engineering teamExperience with modern computer vision models and training/fine-tuning/deploymentProven track record of edge model optimizationExperience with lead-angle calculation for computing aimpoint solutions from tracked target kinematicsExperience building human-in-the-loop control interfaces or state machines that facilitate automated tracking and operator authorizationEmbedded/firmware experience: real-time OS, sensor drivers, and hardware managementExperience with real-time video pipelines and multi-sensor fusionExperience with Hailo or similar edge AI acceleratorsPython, C++ &/OR Rust skillsPreferred Skills and ExperienceExperience in kill chain methodologies, edge perception and classification for specific target sets, and an understanding of the trade-offs for different sensing modalities and wavelengthsExperience with hardware control loop algorithms for tracking and targetingExperience with multi-object tracking and target fusion and arbitrationPrior experience in defense, counter-UAS, or small-UAS autonomy systemsExperience developing and/or working in .cu files