3D Perception Engineer - Navigation & Traversability

Socket.dev; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

FieldAI’s Irvine team is building embodied AI for real robots with real sensors and field deployments. We design perception, mapping, and autonomy systems that work on hardware, not just in simulation.

As a Perception Engineer you will own 3D representations for navigation, build perception pipelines from LiDAR and cameras to fusion and localization, and push production-ready solutions across field tests.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of experience in verification, validation, systems test, or perception evaluation for robotics, autonomous systems, automotive, or similar domains.
• Experience working with robotic sensors such as LiDAR, cameras, GPS, and IMUs.
• Strong understanding of perception system behavior, sensor limitations, and common failure modes.
• Experience developing test plans, validation procedures, performance metrics, and structured test reports.
• Experience analyzing logs, datasets, and field results to debug issues and perform root‑cause analysis.
• Strong cross‑functional communication skills and the ability to work effectively with development teams while representing an independent V&V function.

Responsibilities

• Own 3D Representation for Navigation: design and implement 3D scene/traversability representations optimized for real-time on‑robot use.
• Build and maintain perception systems for autonomous robots in real‑world environments.
• Develop and integrate sensor-based perception using LiDAR, cameras, GPS, and IMUs.
• Deploy perception software from research to production on physical robots and debug on‑robot issues.
• Improve system robustness and scalability with testing, metrics, and regression tools.
• Collaborate across teams to define perception requirements and communicate tradeoffs clearly.

Skills

V&V for robotics

Sensor fusion knowledge

Cross-functional communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Robotics/EE/CE/CS/ME

Job description

FieldAI’s Irvine team is building embodied AI for real robots with real sensors and field deployments. We design perception, mapping, and autonomy systems that work on hardware, not just in simulation.

As a Perception Engineer you will own 3D representations for navigation, build perception pipelines from LiDAR and cameras to fusion and localization, and push production-ready solutions across field tests.