Principal Perception Lead

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and integration of perception algorithms for autonomous navigation, targeting, and situational awareness systems
• Architect and implement computer vision and sensor fusion pipelines leveraging data from cameras, LIDAR, RADAR, or other onboard sensors
• Define technical strategy and roadmaps for perception subsystems, ensuring alignment with overall vehicle autonomy and mission objectives
• Drive algorithm development for object detection, tracking, classification, and scene understanding in challenging, dynamic, and resource-constrained environments
• Establish and enforce best practices for perception software development, testing, and verification & validation (V&V)
• Collaborate cross-functionally with autonomy, guidance navigation & control (GN&C), avionics, and systems engineering teams to integrate perception capabilities into flight systems
• Support hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) and software-in-the-loop (SITL) testing, as well as field and flight test campaigns, to validate perception algorithm performance
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior and mid-level perception engineers, fostering technical growth without formal supervisory responsibility

Job requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent additional experience in lieu of degree
• 8+ years of professional experience in computer vision, sensor fusion, or perception algorithm development for autonomous systems
• Demonstrated technical leadership experience guiding the perception architecture and algorithm strategy for a program or product, without requiring formal management authority
• Strong proficiency in C++ and/or Python for perception algorithm development
• Hands-on experience with sensor fusion techniques (e.g., Kalman filtering, particle filtering) integrating data from multiple sensor modalities (camera, LIDAR, RADAR, IMU)
• Experience with object detection, tracking, and classification algorithms, including deep learning-based approaches
• Familiarity with real-time or embedded software development constraints
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to influence technical direction across teams