Head of Software Engineering (f/m/d)

Your mission

Did you know that one single container ship emits more CO2 than 65,000 cars?

At CargoKite we are keen on changing this by developing the sailing ship of the 21st century. We are a diverse team of visionaries, engineers, and environmental advocates united by a common goal: to develop cutting-edge solutions that propel the shipping industry into a more sustainable era.

Are you a visionary with a passion for combating climate change? Do you have a knack for turning groundbreaking ideas into tangible, sustainable hardware solutions? If so, we invite you to join our trailblazing team at CargoKite and shape the future of maritime transportation.
We are seeking a software engineer, experienced in the fields of algorithmics and end-to-end software development, to lead our department in building crucial planning, perception, analytics and visualization software to fulfill our vision of decarbonizing the shipping industry with autonomous, wind-powered vessels. Your role will involve mentoring junior engineers, facilitating knowledge sharing, and leading by example in designing superior algorithms and writing efficient, high-quality code.

Your

• Work cross-functionally with other department leads and our CTO to make critical decisions and ensure designs will meet overall system requirements
• Drive make-or-buy decisions to reach strategic objectives
• Design, develop and evaluate routing algorithms to ensure our ships follow a path optimized for weather conditions and other objectives
• Devise software architectures and ensure cybersecurity requirements are met
• Design, develop and evaluate motion planning and decision planning algorithms for our vessels
• Ensure highly accurate predictions of the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) of our vessels, by leveraging machine learning to mitigate the impact of weather forecast inaccuracies.
• Design, develop and evaluate perception algorithms to fuse data from cameras, radars and other sensors (e.g., to detect obstacles and waves)
• Write and guide the implementation of Python prototypes for routing, perception and decision algorithms
• Write efficient, well-tested C++ code
• Shape our software development processes and align our tech stack accordingly
• Work with platform and UI engineers to ensure display of useful on-board information to users for near real-time visualization
• Motivate and empower teammates to achieve outstanding levels of performance.

Your profile

• 8+ years professional experience in software development, with prior experience leading tech projects
• 5+ years of professional experience writing production-grade software using C++ and Python
• Deep understanding of autonomous systems, computer vision, and robotics principles
• Experience with Web Application architecture and implementation
• Deep understanding of routing and decision algorithms
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related field
• Excellent knowledge of machine learning algorithms
• Knowledge of cloud platforms (e.g. AWS, Azure, GCP) and DevOps practices
• Familiarity with GPU accelerated algorithm development
• Excellent communication and leadership skills
• Experience with mentoring a young team of engineers
• Experience structuring, processing and streaming large amounts of data (incl. relevant tools such as Apache Kafka)
• EU work permit (CargoKite does not provide any visa sponsorship for this role).

• Kitesurfing, paragliding or sailing experience (including associated certificates: SBF/ SKS) is a plus
• Hands-on experience with online state estimation and sensor fusion
• Experience with perception sensing technologies like radar, cameras, acoustics, etc.
• Experience working in industries related to robotics, autonomous vehicles, or remote operations
• Experience with real-time control
• Experience with certifications processes
• Experience with robotics middleware such as ROS, DDS, ZMQ, MQTT
• Experience working with geospatial data

What we offer

• Opportunity to join a deep-tech startup as an employee from the very beginning, and contribute to the strategic decision making of the company.
• Outstanding opportunities for personal development through a great deal of creative freedom and a high degree of independence and impact on your team and the company.
• Competitive compensation and equity options.
• A collaborative and inclusive work environment in which we can rely on each other, and which values your contributions and ideas.
• Chance to make a meaningful impact on the future of the shipping industry & our planet.
• Health and wellness benefits (sports, public transport ticket etc.).
• Flexible working hours with the possibility to work from home.