Senior Simulation Platform Engineer – Autonomy & HIL

Front Door Defense; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Merlin Labs in Boston, MA seeks a Staff Simulation Platform Engineer to design and build the next-generation simulation infrastructure for aircraft autonomy testing. You will own scalable virtual environments, integrate hardware-in-the-loop components, and drive reproducible validation workflows.

The role requires 7+ years in complex simulation environments, strong software architecture, and hands-on Python/C++ work.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience building or scaling complex simulation or autonomy validation environments.
• Experience contributing to or architecting large-scale simulation frameworks.
• Strong software architecture experience in multi-component, distributed systems.
• Experience defining interface contracts, configuration schemas, or API boundaries in complex systems.
• Experience integrating simulation environments with real-time or hardware-in-the-loop systems.
• Hands-on proficiency in Python and/or C++.
• Demonstrated ability to modernize or scale legacy engineering toolchains.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement structured topology and configuration definitions across aircraft platforms.
• Improve stability of routing layers, hardware/software interfaces, and runtime integration components.
• Introduce versioning and compatibility discipline across simulation artifacts.
• Build validation tooling to prevent integration breakage from reaching lab benches.
• Expand scenario-based simulation capabilities supporting autonomy development.
• Enable structured Monte Carlo and multi-scenario validation workflows.
• Develop infrastructure to simulate sensor inputs and autonomy behaviors in realistic operational contexts.
• Improve determinism and traceability of simulation runs.
• Implement CI/CD workflows for simulation artifacts.
• Improve reproducibility of simulation environments.
• Implement schema-driven validation mechanisms for interfaces.
• Build foundational platform components hands-on during early phases.
• Mentor and elevate engineers working on simulation tools and routing infrastructure.
• Establish extensibility and architectural standards within the simulation stack.
• Influence cross-functional stakeholders (Autonomy, Compute Platform, Systems, Lab Integration).

Skills

Python

C++

Software architecture

Distributed systems

APIs/interfaces

HIL/real-time integration

Tooling/CI-CD

Tools

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Merlin Labs in Boston, MA seeks a Staff Simulation Platform Engineer to design and build the next-generation simulation infrastructure for aircraft autonomy testing. You will own scalable virtual environments, integrate hardware-in-the-loop components, and drive reproducible validation workflows.

The role requires 7+ years in complex simulation environments, strong software architecture, and hands-on Python/C++ work.