ML Runtime Engineer

Academic Key; Toulouse; Hybrid; EUR 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Paid time off

Health and life insurance

Lunch vouchers

Travel opportunities

Offsites

Relocation assistance

Relocation assistance to Toulouse

Job summary

Loftorbital is seeking a ML Runtime Engineer in Toulouse to own model compilation and performance tooling for running ML models on flight hardware. You will optimize ONNX models for accelerators like TensorRT and Jetson, while ensuring power, thermal, and latency budgets are met.

You will work across model compilation, runtime internals, quantization, and hardware‑in‑the‑loop CI, often in the same day, collaborating with the Space Inference Engine and SDK teams to push the envelope of onboard AI

Qualifications

• Strong experience in systems and ML deployment.
• Experience turning ONNX models into optimized engines for edge devices.
• Ability to work across hardware-in-the-loop tests and CI/CD pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Own model compilation: turn partner ONNX models into optimized engines per accelerator within power & thermal budgets.
• Build the ground-side compile & delivery path; define on-node mismatch detection/rejection.
• Build performance tooling: benchmarking, profiling, operator-coverage matrices, budget validation.
• Contribute to Space Inference Engine and the SDK; coordinate OBSW / Runtime team.

Skills

C++ & Python

Model compilation

Embedded GPU

Profiling & tooling

Meson Yocto

Tools

TensorRT

ONNX Runtime

Jetson

Yocto

Meson

Job description

ML Runtime Engineer

Loftorbital · Toulouse, Occitanie

Full time

Wanna join the adventure? Loft's AI for Space group is building the stack that runs real machine learning in orbit; turning raw sensor data into decisions on the satellite itself, so insight reaches the customer in minutes instead of hours.

The AI Engineering team is where models meet the spacecraft. We own the full path from a partner's trained model to something that actually runs — fast — on flight hardware: compiling ONNX models into optimized engines for each accelerator, the Space Inference Engine and its execution providers, the SDK that packages models for flight, and the perf tooling that proves a model fits its power, thermal, and latency budget before it ever leaves the ground.

As we open the platform to a growing roster of defense and Earth‑observation partners, the team's scope and the range of silicon we target are expanding fast.

As our ML Runtime Engineer , you'll own model compilation and the performance tooling behind it. We're looking for someone scrappy — the kind of engineer who takes an unfamiliar model and an unforgiving power budget, digs into the graph, and gets it running on real hardware without waiting for the path to be handed to them. You'll move between model compilation, runtime internals, quantization, and hardware‑in‑the‑loop CI, sometimes in the same afternoon.

• Own model compilation: turn partner ONNX models into optimized engines per accelerator (TensorRT, Hailo, AMD/ROCm), within power & thermal budgets
• Build the ground‑side compile & delivery path; define how a mismatched engine is detected/rejected on‑node
• Build performance tooling: benchmarking, profiling, operator‑coverage matrices, and budget validation
• Contribute to Space Inference Engine (execution providers) and the SDK (model build & packaging); coordinate the OBSW / Runtime team

• Strong C++ and Python
• Model compilation: TensorRT (and/or equivalent graph compilers) ONNX Runtime, quantization & inference perf optimization
• Embedded / edge GPU deployment ( NVIDIA Jetson)
• Benchmarking & profiling / perf tooling CI/CD incl. hardware‑in‑the‑loop

• Hailo SDK and/or AMD ROCm compilation (iX10)
• Writing custom kernels / operator plugins
• Remote sensing / large‑image handling RF / IQ signal data exposure
• Meson build, Yocto / minimal Debian images
• Model-weight protection / secure execution

• Equity, we want you to have an active role in our success
• Up to 35 days of Paid Time Off (vacations & RTT ) and flexible working hours, we want you to be at your best
• Health and life insurance, we care about your health
• Lunch Vouchers, because let’s be honest, we love food! (we even have a slack channel about it #loft-gourmand )
• Cross‑office travel opportunities between San Francisco, Colorado, and Toulouse to learn from our differences
• Company and team off‑sites and many other events to work & celebrate together
• Relocation assistance to Toulouse when applicable
• Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other underrepresented people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t check all the boxes.

Who We Are

Loft: Space Made Simple. Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit. We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end‑to‑end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on‑orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years‑long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives. With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure. As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.