Engineering Manager, Autonomy Planning & Behaviors

Merlin; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work option

Hybrid HQ Boston

Job summary

Merlin Labs is seeking a leader to steer autonomous decision making and behavior for airborne systems from takeoff to landing. You will guide research, architecture, and testing while hands-on coding when needed, contributing to Merlin’s mission in autonomy and aviation safety.

Remote applicants are welcome with a preference for candidates near Boston, MA for hybrid work at HQ. You will collaborate across Merlin to push the envelope on crewed and uncrewed flight technologies.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics Engineering, or a related subject.
• Years of professional experience developing software for airborne autonomous systems.
• Subject matter expert in mission management frameworks and decision-making algorithms.
• Experience leading a team of at least 4 engineers at different levels.

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical direction and deliver autonomous decision making, behavior execution, and motion planning capabilities for airborne systems.
• Define research, experiments, and development projects to support mission autonomy capabilities.
• Identify gaps and staffing needs to develop decision making and behavior capabilities.
• Ensure plans align with short- and long-term Merlin technology roadmaps.
• Lead architecture design and conduct trade-off analyses for decisions.
• Step in to hands-on software development as needed.
• Support simulation, integration, and flight test activities.

Skills

Leadership

Autonomy systems

Python

C++

Machine learning

Aerospace

Mission management

Education

B.S. in CS / Aerospace / Robotics

Tools

ROS

DDS

Aircraft simulation

Git

Job description

Merlin (NASDAQ: MRLN) is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company building a non-human pilot to deliver full-stack autonomy for any aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. The Merlin Pilot autonomy system powers a growing range of aircraft and mission profiles and has been proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from Merlin's global flight test facilities, including Kerikeri, New Zealand; Quonset Point, Rhode Island; and soon, Bedford, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Boston, Merlin is expanding its organization to accelerate the development and deployment of its autonomy platform, helping customers solve some of aviation's most pressing challenges, from pilot shortages to improving flight safety. Backed by some of the world's leading investors prior to its public listing, Merlin continues to advance the certification and commercialization of autonomous flight across commercial and defense aviation.

About you

• You are an experienced engineer with a background in autonomous systems, aviation, and robotics who wants to lead Merlin’s direction when it comes to decision making and behaviors for mission autonomy
• You understand both the commercial and military aviation domains, and enjoy pushing the boundaries on crewed and uncrewed technology to make aviation safer and to be a force multiplier for our military
• You have developed and deployed autonomy for airborne systems, have a deep understanding of the techniques enabling mission management and decision making, and understand how to build and test scalable teams of autonomous systems
• You want to focus more on leading and driving technical direction, but can get your hands dirty with day-to-day software development and experimentation when it’s needed

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical direction and deliver autonomous decision making, behavior execution, and motion planning capabilities for airborne systems.
• Define the research, experiments, and development projects that support delivering mission autonomy capabilities.
• Identify gaps and define staffing needs to develop and deliver decision making and behavior capabilities.
• Ensure the decision making, behaviors, and motion planning technical plans align with short term R&D objectives, long term objectives, and the Merlin technology roadmap.
• Lead architecture design and perform architecture and technology trade-off analysis, accounting for short term objectives and long term goals in decision making.
• Step in to a hands-on software development role as needed.
• Support simulation, integration, and flight test activities to validate real-world performance.
• Collaborate across Merlin to develop novel systems to solve the toughest problems in aviation and autonomy.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics Engineering, or a related subject.
• Years of professional experience developing software for airborne autonomous systems.
• Subject matter expert in one or more of the following:
  • Mission management frameworks such as behavior trees, hierarchical task networks, state machines, petri nets.
  • Single- and multi-vehicle autonomy, resource allocation, and decision making algorithms.
  • Airborne contingency and emergency management.
  • Machine learning for complex decision making and behavior generation.
• Years of experience providing tech leadership to a team of at least 4 engineers at different levels.
• Proficiency in modern software development workflows and practices, including version control, pipelines, and unit testing, and peer review.
• Experience with overall product development cycle, including design, testing, and troubleshooting at the system level as well as at the software component level.
• Proficiency writing both Python and C++.
• Familiarity with simulation software, especially aircraft simulation.
• Experience with proposal writing and technical roadmap development.

Nice to Have

• Experience with ROS, DDS, or similar middleware for robotics/autonomy systems.
• Experience with government open architectures such as A-GRA, OMS and FACE.
• Experience developing and/or using modern avionics systems.
• Experience with hardware and software integration and debugging.
• Experience with flight testing (uncrewed or crewed aircraft).
• Awareness of aviation certification standards such as DO-178.
• Pilot license and flight experience is a plus.

Logistics

• We welcome remote applicants for this role, with a preference for candidates based in or willing to relocate to Boston, MA for a hybrid work schedule at our HQ

Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health, dental, life, unlimited vacation, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.

Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military service or obligation or disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background and reference checks.

At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or consider candidates who require visa transfers. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to: [e-mail]

Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.

The compensation range provided is reflective of base salary only, and is a good-faith estimate based on a wide range of factors. The actual offer will be determined by a variety of factors including the candidate's qualifications, skills, experience, education, and training. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Merlin's total compensation package. Additionally, Merlin offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees.