Lead Autonomy Engineer - MAGE2

Scientific Systems; Burlington (MA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental &amp

Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)

Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&

Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public

Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)

Short Term & Long Term Disability

Training & Development

Free Food & Snacks

Wellness Resources

Summer 9/80 work schedule

Job summary

Scientific Systems is seeking a Lead Autonomy Engineer to serve as a key technical contributor and team lead on multiple programs aligned with division objectives.

This role focuses on mission autonomy, decision-making, and the integration of edge software and robotics, with opportunities to influence R&D roadmaps and collaborate with diverse teams. Travel may be required, and a US DoD clearance is possible.

Qualifications

• BS in Math, CS, or engineering with 7+ years autonomy tech leadership.
• Proven experience leading proposals and winning contracts.
• Experience building software for edge platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to address customer-driven technical challenges.
• Serve as SME in mission autonomy technologies.
• Support marketing and proposal efforts in mission autonomy.
• Oversee team to meet program milestones.
• Maintain primary prime and customer-facing interactions.
• Stay current with autonomy industry trends and best practices.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary R&D teams.
• Able to sit/stand at a desk and work on a computer.
• Occasional travel and ability to lift up to 15 pounds.
• Obtain and maintain a US DoD security clearance.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Robotics

Team leadership

Proposal leadership

Edge platforms

Simulation tools

Linux

Education

BS with 7+ years autonomy tech experience

MS with 5+ years autonomy tech experience

PhD with 2+ years autonomy tech experience

Tools

AFSIM

NGTS

Linux

Job description

The Lead Autonomy Engineer is a key technical contributor and small engineering team lead on multiple programs aligned with division and/or group objectives. Mission autonomy is the ability for autonomous agents or teams to conduct strategic decision-making and coordinated actions toward longer-term operational objectives through persistent world modeling, predictive simulation, and adaptive planning under uncertainty and adversarial conditions.

Essential Functions:

• Lead a team to develop innovative solutions to address technical challenges derived from customer requirements.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in emerging mission autonomy technologies.
• Support or lead marketing and proposal efforts in mission autonomy.
• Support or lead managing and tasking team to achieve program milestones.
• Take primary responsibility for prime and customer-facing interactions.
• Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in mission autonomy and other areas relevant to Scientific Systems.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to advance R&D roadmaps.
• The role does require the ability to sit or stand at a desk and work on a computer for prolonged periods of time.
• This role may require occasional travel when necessary.
• May require the ability to push/pull/lift up to 15 pounds.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a US DOD Security Clearance.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Math, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Physical Science, Operations Research, Data Science, or equivalent experienceand 7+ years of progressive autonomy technologies experience including team leadership in a related industry, a Master degree and 5+ years of related engineering experience, or a Ph.D. degree and 2+ years working in a related engineering role.
• Experience working in a team leadership role in a related industry.
• Proven track record of leading proposals and winning contracts.
• Proven track record of leading programs in the principal investigator role or similar experience.
• Experience in building and integrating software for edge platforms.
• Experience with C/C++, Python, and/or project-specific required languages. (e.g. Java, Rust, etc.)
• Experience assisting with non-technical programmatic priorities as needed, including staff planning, budget estimation and tracking, and customer-facing interactions.
• Background in robotics technologies related to motion planning, behavior modeling, or decision-making and their accompanying algorithms.
• Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS) for validation, verification, and training.

Preferred Qualifications

• M.S. or Ph.D. degrees
• Familiar with AI/ML standard libraries and tools.
• Experience working in Linux-based development environments.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Experience working on both classical autonomy and machine learning and the combination of the two, blending rule-based systems with learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning and generative methods to achieve resilient, adaptive behavior.
• Experience developing software modules that combine planning, decision-making, and behavior execution in dynamic, adversarial environments.
• Experience implementing and testing behavior architectures such as multi-agent collaboration, target engagement, payload management, reconnaissance, and engagement in adversarial scenarios.
• Ability to analyze mission logs to diagnose failures and optimize models for iterative development.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills including technical writing skills.
• Ability to identify and creatively solve complex problems
• Salary: $150,000 - $196,000 (Depends on Experience)
• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Training & Development
• Free Food & Snacks
• Wellness Resources
• Summer 9/80 work schedule