The Role
Leads a small engineering team developing mission autonomy software for strategic decision-making, world modeling, predictive simulation, adaptive planning, and adversarial environments. Serves as a technical and customer-facing subject matter expert, leads proposals and programs, integrates edge-platform software, and advances R&D roadmaps. The role involves robotics algorithms, simulation-based validation, classical and machine-learning autonomy, behavior architectures, mission-log analysis, and occasional travel.
Summary Generated by Built In
The Lead Autonomy Engineer is a key technical contributor and small engineering team lead on multiple programs aligned with division and/or group objectives. Mission autonomy is the ability for 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 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 progressive autonomy technologies experience including team leadership in a related industry, a Master 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.
- Proven track record of leading proposals and winning contracts.
- Proven track record 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
- Familiar with AI/ML standard libraries and tools.
- Experience working in Linux-based development environments.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Experience working on both classical autonomy and machine learning and the combination of the two, blending rule-based systems with learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning and generative methods to achieve resilient, adaptive behavior.
- Experience developing software modules that combine planning, decision-making, and behavior execution in dynamic, adversarial environments.
- Experience implementing and testing behavior architectures such as multi-agent collaboration, target engagement, payload management, reconnaissance, and engagement in adversarial scenarios.
- Ability to analyze mission logs to diagnose failures and optimize models for iterative development.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills including technical writing skills.
- Ability to identify and creatively solve complex problems
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 of progressive autonomy technology experience including team leadership; alternatively, a master's degree with 5+ years of related engineering experience or a Ph.D. with 2+ years in a related engineering role
- Experience working in a team leadership role in a related industry
- Proven track record of leading proposals and winning contracts
- Proven track record of leading programs as a principal investigator or through similar experience
- Experience building and integrating software for edge platforms
- Experience with C/C++, Python, and/or project-specific programming languages such as Java or Rust
- Experience supporting staff planning, budget estimation and tracking, and customer-facing interactions
- Background in robotics technologies related to motion planning, behavior modeling, or decision-making 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 working in Linux-based development environments
- Experience combining classical autonomy and machine learning, including rule-based systems, reinforcement learning, and generative methods
- Experience developing software modules combining planning, decision-making, and behavior execution in dynamic, adversarial environments
- Experience implementing and testing behavior architectures such as multi-agent collaboration, target engagement, payload management, reconnaissance, and adversarial engagement
- Ability to analyze mission logs to diagnose failures and optimize models for iterative development
- Excellent organizational, oral, written, and technical writing skills
- Ability to identify and creatively solve complex problems
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance
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The Company
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.
