Senior Mechanical Engineer

Founded in 2025, Our Client is a defense technology company developing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) designed to advance the next generation of undersea systems for the U.S. and allied navies. The company is building its technology platform from the ground up, combining advanced autonomy, robotics, software, and hardware to solve complex real-world challenges in demanding underwater environments.

This is an opportunity to join a fast-moving engineering team where you will work directly with early hardware, incomplete requirements, and difficult technical constraints to develop dependable, production-ready autonomy systems.

We are seeking an Autonomy Engineer to help design, develop, integrate, and test autonomy systems for autonomous underwater vehicles. The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineer who can translate ambiguous requirements and real-world test data into robust autonomy solutions.

You will work closely with multidisciplinary teams across robotics, software, electrical, mechanical, and systems engineering to develop autonomous capabilities from concept through field testing and production.

• Develop and implement autonomy algorithms for autonomous underwater vehicles and robotic systems.

• Design software for vehicle navigation, guidance, control, perception, planning, and decision-making.

• Translate incomplete requirements and challenging operational constraints into reliable engineering solutions.

• Integrate autonomy software with real vehicle hardware, sensors, actuators, and embedded systems.

• Develop and evaluate algorithms using simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and real-world vehicle testing.

• Analyze test data and system performance to identify issues and improve vehicle autonomy.

• Debug complex software, hardware, and system-level integration problems.

• Work closely with mechanical, electrical, embedded, and systems engineers to bring autonomous platforms from prototype to production.

• Develop tools and infrastructure to support autonomy testing, validation, and deployment.

• Contribute to architecture and technical decisions for a new autonomy platform.

• Participate in field testing and troubleshoot systems in demanding operational environments.

• Balance engineering rigor with speed, practicality, and product requirements.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.

• Professional experience developing autonomous robotic, vehicle, or embedded systems.

• Strong programming skills in C++ and/or Python.

• Experience with robotics, autonomous systems, navigation, controls, perception, planning, or related technologies.

• Experience integrating software with physical hardware and sensors.

• Strong debugging, problem-solving, and analytical skills.

• Ability to work effectively with incomplete requirements and rapidly changing technical challenges.

• Hands-on experience testing and validating systems using real-world data.

• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Experience with autonomous underwater vehicles, marine robotics, drones, unmanned systems, or defense robotics.

• Experience with ROS/ROS2, simulation environments, or robotics middleware.

• Experience with state estimation, sensor fusion, SLAM, localization, or navigation.

• Knowledge of guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) systems.

• Experience with IMUs, GPS, sonar, acoustic sensors, cameras, DVLs, or other robotic sensing technologies.

• Experience with embedded Linux, real-time systems, or embedded software.

• Experience developing systems for harsh or GPS-denied environments.

• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop or software-in-the-loop testing.

• Familiarity with modern software development, version control, automated testing, and CI/CD practices.

• Prior experience in defense, aerospace, robotics, autonomy, or other safety-critical environments.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on, highly analytical engineer who enjoys solving difficult problems where there is no established playbook. You should be comfortable moving between software development, system integration, testing, and troubleshooting.

Our Client values engineering decisions based on physics, test data, and measurable product outcomes rather than unnecessary process or documentation. The ability to take ownership, move quickly, and turn early-stage technology into reliable real-world systems is critical.

• Competitive compensation benchmarked against the defense and robotics industries.

• Meaningful early-stage equity opportunity.

• Fully covered health, dental, and vision insurance.

• 401(k) plan.

• Paid time off.

• Professional development and opportunities for continued technical growth.

• Compensation and benefits designed to grow alongside the company and employee impact.

This position may involve access to information subject to U.S. export control regulations, including EAR and ITAR. Employment may be conditioned on authorization to receive export-controlled software or technology without requiring company sponsorship for an export license.

Our Client participates in E-Verify and will verify employment authorization in accordance with applicable federal requirements.

Our Client is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

W3Global was established in 2006 in Fremont, CA with a vision: simplify the recruiting process and develop an industry-disrupting platform to connect candidates with clients. Our cutting-edge Applicant Tracking System enables us to find the right person for the right job, creating value for job seekers and employers. While W3Global initially focused on IT staffing, we have expanded the business to serve many other industries, including accounting and finance, legal, engineering, human resources, government and more.

We’re proud of the investments we’ve made in our team, having grown from four to 1000 employees and evolving into one of the leading recruitment and staffing solution providers in the industry. Our recruiters and account managers are passionate about connecting qualified professionals with the right positions in small, medium, and large companies.

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W3Global understands the natural ups and downs of an organization’s staffing needs. We are continuously adapting to industry and economic changes to find the right candidates.

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