The Lead Autonomy Software Engineer is a key technical contributor and excels when leading small engineering teams. In this role, you will develop and integrate cutting edge technologies into mission autonomy solutions intended for Group 3-5 unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Mission autonomy enables autonomous agents or teams to conduct strategic decision-making and coordinated actions toward longer-term operational objectives through persistent world modeling, predictive simulation, and adaptive planning under uncertainty and adversarial conditions.
Essential Functions:
- Lead a team to develop innovative solutions to address technical challenges derived from customer requirements.
- Serve as a subject matter expert in emerging mission autonomy technologies.
- Support or lead marketing and proposal efforts in mission autonomy.
- Support or lead managing and tasking team to achieve program’s milestones.
- Take primary responsibility for prime and customer-facing interactions.
- Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in mission autonomy and other areas relevant to Scientific Systems.
- Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to advance R&D roadmaps,
- The role does require the ability to sit or stand at a desk and work on a computer for prolonged periods of time.
- This role may require occasional travel when necessary.
- May require the ability to push/pull/lift up to 15 pounds.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a US DOD Security Clearance.
Requirements
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science degree in Math, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Physical Science, Operations Research, Data Science, or equivalent experience and 7+ years of developing autonomy technologies experience including team leadership in a related industry, a master’s degree and 5+ years of related engineering experience, or a Ph.D. degree and 2+ years working in a related engineering role.
- Experience working in a team leadership role in a related industry.
- Extensive experience leading proposals and winning contracts.
- Extensive experience of leading programs in the principal investigator role or similar experience.
- Experience in building and integrating software for edge platforms.
- Experience with C/C++, Python, and/or project-specific required languages (e.g. Java, Rust, etc.)
- Experience assisting with non-technical programmatic priorities as needed, including staff planning, budget estimation and tracking, and customer-facing interactions.
- Background in robotics technologies related to motion planning, behavior modeling, or decision-making and their accompanying algorithms
- Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS) for validation, verification, and training
Preferred Qualifications
- M.S. or Ph.D. degrees
- Familiarity with AI/ML standard libraries and tools.
- Experience in Linux-based development environments.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
Benefits
- Salary: $150,000 - $196,000 (Depends on Experience)
- Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
- Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
- Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
- Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
- Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
- Short Term & Long Term Disability
- Training & Development
- Hybrid Work Schedule
- Free Food & Snacks
- Wellness Resources
- Summer 9/80 work schedule
Skills Required
- Bachelor of Science in mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, physical science, operations research, data science, or equivalent experience, plus 7+ years developing autonomy technologies with team leadership; alternatively, a master's degree with 5+ years of related engineering experience or a Ph.D. with 2+ years of related engineering experience
- Experience in a team leadership role in a related industry
- Extensive experience leading proposals and winning contracts
- Extensive experience leading programs in a principal investigator role or similar position
- Experience building and integrating software for edge platforms
- Experience with C/C++, Python, and/or project-specific languages such as Java or Rust
- Experience with staff planning, budget estimation and tracking, and customer-facing interactions
- Background in robotics technologies involving motion planning, behavior modeling, decision-making, and related algorithms
- Experience with simulation tools and environments such as AFSIM or NGTS for validation, verification, and training
- Master's or Ph.D. degree
- Familiarity with standard AI/ML libraries and tools
- Experience in Linux-based development environments
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
What We Do
Architects of Autonomy Noted technologies such as autonomy, artificial intelligence, machine learning and computer vision are rightfully touted for their enabling potential for national defense and scientific exploration. At Scientific Systems, we develop and holistically connect these technologies together to provide disruptive, offsetting capabilities for unmanned systems, enabling them to make intelligent decisions and collaborate across the domains of space, air, land, and sea. We’ve spent the past 40 years pioneering innovations, including advancements in mission autonomy, for all branches of the U.S. military, DARPA, NASA and more.
