Senior Maritime Autonomy Software Engineer (Deployments)

NightDragon Acquisition Corp.; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental and Vision Insurance

401(k) plan

Stock Options

Time Off

Parental Leave

Competitive Salary

Life and Disability Insurance

Free lunch and drinks

Job summary

Saronic Technologies is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed Software Engineer to lead the design, deployment, and optimization of autonomy-enabled software on maritime vessels. You will work hands-on with software, networking, and autonomy to ensure robust operation in real-world environments.

Collaborating with operators and field teams, you will debug and refine autonomy algorithms, integrate sensors, and translate mission feedback into practical software improvements that enhance reliability

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing autonomy or robotics systems, with a strong software engineering foundation.
• Proficient in C++, Rust, Python or similar languages for performance-critical systems.
• Deep technical background in robotics and autonomy, especially maritime/aerospace/defense.
• Strong networking knowledge of TCP/IP, UDP, DDS, ROS, ZeroMQ.
• Hands-on with perception sensors: cameras, radar, GPS, IMUs, sensor fusion.
• Ability to debug across software, hardware, networking and autonomy.
• Experience deploying autonomy in real-world constraints and variable environments.
• Willing to lead field deployments up to 50% in maritime contexts.
• Expertise in motion planning, control, behavior architectures.
• Maritime/naval/defense domain knowledge and mission needs.
• Knowledge of distributed autonomy and multi-agent coordination in low-bandwidth settings.
• Leadership in system integration and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize autonomy, networking, and mission execution software for robust maritime performance.
• Lead field testing and deployment strategies for autonomy, perception, and control under operational conditions.
• Analyze mission-critical performance data and translate insights into software improvements.
• Architect and integrate new autonomy capabilities across software, sensors, and vessel hardware.
• Collaborate with operators and end-users to guide autonomy stack evolution.
• Lead incident response and root cause analysis across software, hardware, networking layers.
• Mentor cross-functional teams and elevate engineering practices.
• Create deployment protocols, diagnostic tools, and documentation for scalable autonomy.

Skills

Autonomy/Robotics software development

C++, Rust, Python

Robotics, autonomy, embedded systems

Networking protocols

Sensor fusion

Debugging cross-disciplinary issues

Field deployments leadership

Motion planning & control

Maritime/defense domain knowledge

Distributed autonomy coordination

System integration leadership

Tools

ROS

ZeroMQ

DDS

Sensor fusion frameworks

Embedded systems development

Job description

Saronic Technologies is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed Software Engineer to lead the design, deployment, and optimization of autonomy-enabled software on maritime vessels. You will work hands-on with software, networking, and autonomy to ensure robust operation in real-world environments.

Collaborating with operators and field teams, you will debug and refine autonomy algorithms, integrate sensors, and translate mission feedback into practical software improvements that enhance reliability