Lead AI/ML Engineer for Autonomous Avionics

Southwest Research Institute; Oklahoma City (OK); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Southwest Research Institute in the United States seeks a senior AI/ML researcher to lead advanced R&D for aerospace mission systems and embedded avionics. You will drive physics-informed and data-driven ML approaches for sensor fusion, system identification, anomaly detection, and decision support.

Deploy ML models to embedded hardware using C/C++ and Python, and provide senior technical leadership across multidisciplinary teams to transition research into funded aerospace programs.

Qualifications

• Requires a strong track record in AI/ML research for aerospace or defense systems.
• 12+ years engineering experience with leadership and algorithm-to-hardware deployment.
• Expertise in physics-informed ML, sensor fusion, and real-time embedded systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI/ML research and development for aerospace mission systems and embedded avionics.
• Develop production‑quality Python and C/C++ software for real-time platforms.
• Coordinate SIL/HIL experiments and collaborate across engineering disciplines.

Skills

AI/ML leadership

Python

C/C++

Embedded systems

Sensor fusion

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical/CS/AE/Math

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

FPGA

Job description

Southwest Research Institute in the United States seeks a senior AI/ML researcher to lead advanced R&D for aerospace mission systems and embedded avionics. You will drive physics-informed and data-driven ML approaches for sensor fusion, system identification, anomaly detection, and decision support.

Deploy ML models to embedded hardware using C/C++ and Python, and provide senior technical leadership across multidisciplinary teams to transition research into funded aerospace programs.