Senior Perception Engineer — Sensors, Firmware & Drivers

Persona AI; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Performance-based bonus

Medical benefits

Equity

Paid time off

Winter break

Job summary

Persona AI in Houston, TX is seeking a Senior Perception Engineer focused on sensors, firmware and drivers. You’ll own from photon to algorithm, bringing up imaging and depth sensors on NVIDIA Jetson platforms and building low-latency pipelines.

You'll collaborate with EE, validate hardware for welding, EMI, and harsh industrial environments, and drive calibration infrastructure. Strong C/C++, Python, and kernel experience are required, with bonus work on Jetson Linux BSP and GStreamer.

Qualifications

• 5+ years building embedded sensor, firmware, or driver systems.
• Strong C/C++ and Python; comfortable in the Linux kernel.
• Bonus: Hands-on with NVIDIA Jetson platforms, Jetson Linux BSP, device tree, kernel module development, flashing and board support.
• Demonstrated camera bring-up experience: MIPI CSI-2, V4L2, GMSL2/GMSL3 (Maxim/ADI) or FPD-Link, I2C/SPI sensor configuration.
• Experience shipping software that runs on hardware in the field, with failure-mode instincts.

Responsibilities

• Bring up new imaging and depth sensors end to end: I2C/SPI enumeration, register maps, GMSL2/GMSL3 and FPD-Link configuration, CSI-2 lane mapping, and first light.
• Write and maintain V4L2 / MIPI CSI-2 camera drivers and device tree overlays for NVIDIA Jetson platforms (Orin, Thor).
• Build low-latency, zero-copy sensor ingest and pre-processing pipelines in NVIDIA Holoscan, GStreamer, and CUDA; tune ISP, debayer, and format conversion with low latency.
• Own multi-sensor time synchronization: PTP/gPTP, hardware trigger distribution, exposure-to-timestamp accounting, drift characterization.
• Partner with EE on schematic and layout review for sensor boards, GMSL harness design, power sequencing, and connector selection; debug with scope and tools.
• Characterize sensors for welding-arc, EMI, vibration, and temperature; build calibration/validation infrastructure for intrinsics/extrinsics, HDR and automated tests.
• Work with vendors on errata, firmware revisions, and early access; support perception/autonomy teams on sensor stack capabilities.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Linux kernel

Tools

NVIDIA Jetson

Jetson Linux BSP

GStreamer

CUDA

Job description

Persona AI in Houston, TX is seeking a Senior Perception Engineer focused on sensors, firmware and drivers. You’ll own from photon to algorithm, bringing up imaging and depth sensors on NVIDIA Jetson platforms and building low-latency pipelines.

You'll collaborate with EE, validate hardware for welding, EMI, and harsh industrial environments, and drive calibration infrastructure. Strong C/C++, Python, and kernel experience are required, with bonus work on Jetson Linux BSP and GStreamer.