Machine Learning Engineer

SDFM; Rock Hill (SC); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Powerus is seeking a Machine Learning Engineer to build data, training, and deployment pipelines for models that run on its autonomous aircraft. You will curate datasets, implement reproducible training and evaluation workflows, and optimize models for on-board compute.

The role emphasizes delivering reliable models with verified latency and accuracy, managing model versions, and aligning with software release cycles in a defense/aerospace context.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/CE or related discipline or equivalent practical experience.
• Professional experience training and deploying machine learning models.
• Proficiency in Python and PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Experience building data pipelines and managing large datasets.
• Experience with Linux, containers, and version control.
• U.S. Person status required; access to ITAR/EAR data.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain datasets from flight imagery and sensor logs, including labeling workflows and quality control.
• Develop training and evaluation pipelines with reproducible experiments and versioned data.
• Train, compress, and quantize models for embedded inference.
• Deploy models to aircraft compute and verify accuracy and latency on target hardware.
• Define evaluation metrics and test sets that reflect operational conditions.
• Track model versions and their association with software releases.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Data pipelines

Model evaluation

Experiment tracking

Linux

Containers

Version control

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE or related

Tools

TensorRT

ONNX

MLflow

Weights & Biases

Job description

About Powerus

Powerus is building a next-generation American autonomous systems platform designed to move, protect, and sustain critical assets in high-consequence environments. The company combines advanced autonomy, manufacturing capability, operational expertise, and strategic acquisitions to support defense, national security, critical infrastructure, and commercial operations globally.

Mission

Our mission is to deliver resilient autonomous technologies that strengthen national security, improve operational safety, and expand the capabilities of organizations operating in complex environments.

Why Join Powerus

Powerus collects imagery and sensor data from every test and customer flight. Turning that data into models that run reliably onboard requires labeled datasets, repeatable training, and a controlled path from a trained model to a flight-qualified software release.

This role builds and runs that path within the AI and machine learning group: data curation, training and evaluation pipelines, and model deployment to aircraft compute.

Position Overview

Powerus is seeking a Machine Learning Engineer to build the data, training, and deployment pipelines for models that run on Powerus autonomous aircraft.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain datasets from flight imagery and sensor logs, including labeling workflows and quality control
• Develop training and evaluation pipelines with reproducible experiments and versioned data
• Train, compress, and quantize models for embedded inference
• Deploy models to aircraft compute and verify accuracy and latency on target hardware
• Define evaluation metrics and test sets that reflect operational conditions
• Track model versions and their association with software releases

Qualifications

• Must be located in the United States, within commuting distance of Rock Hill, SC
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience
• Professional experience training and deploying machine learning models
• Proficiency in Python and PyTorch or TensorFlow
• Experience building data pipelines and managing large datasets
• Experience with model evaluation and experiment tracking
• Experience with Linux, containers, and version control
• U.S. Person status required (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)); this role involves access to ITAR- and EAR-controlled technical data

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with TensorRT, ONNX, or model quantization
• Experience with computer vision models
• Experience with MLOps tools such as MLflow or Weights and Biases
• Experience with defense or aerospace data
• Active or prior U.S. security clearance

What We Look For

Candidates should have taken a model from dataset to deployment on a real product and be able to describe how they verified it after deployment.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Powerus is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and mission-driven workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.