Senior Software Engineer, Localization (Calibration)

AeroVect; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

AeroVect in South San Francisco is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for the Localization team. The role involves taking ownership of calibration systems, improving reliability, and designing online validation systems. With 5+ years in robotics or autonomous vehicles, candidates should have robust multi-sensor calibration skills and strong C++ knowledge. Preferred qualifications include an MS or PhD in relevant fields and experience in deploying calibration systems on real hardware.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in robotics or autonomous vehicles with hands-on work in sensor calibration.
• Strong practical knowledge of multi-sensor calibration across LiDARs, IMUs, GNSS, and cameras.
• Proven experience with non-linear optimization frameworks or filtering approaches.

Responsibilities

• Own the calibration stack end-to-end and improve reliability.
• Design and build an online calibration validation system.
• Contribute to the localization and mapping pipeline.

Skills

Sensor calibration

Localization

C++

Multi-sensor calibration

Linux

ROS/ROS2

Education

BS or MS in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Ceres

GTSAM

g2o

OpenCV

PCL

Open3D

Job description

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join the Localization team and take ownership of our calibration systems — from robustifying and stabilizing the existing offline calibration stack, through adapting it for new sensors and environments, to building online calibration validation for continuous autonomous operations at major airports. You will contribute to the broader localization, mapping, and sensor integration efforts as the team scales.

You Will

• Own the calibration stack end-to-end — improve reliability of existing offline calibrations, close coverage gaps across the sensor suite (LiDAR, IMU, GNSS, cameras, radar), and ensure every calibration is repeatable, traceable, and has clear pass/fail criteria
• Design and build an online calibration validation system that monitors cross-sensor consistency during live missions, detects drift, and integrates with the vehicle's safety architecture
• Contribute to the localization and mapping pipeline — sensor integration, performance tuning, regression testing, and deployment to new operating environments
• Develop tooling for calibration health logging, diagnostics, and post-mission analysis
• Deploy, test, and iterate using data from real autonomous operations at active airports

You Have

• 5+ years of experience in robotics or autonomous vehicles with hands-on work in sensor calibration, localization, or state estimation
• Strong practical knowledge of multi-sensor calibration — intrinsic, extrinsic, and temporal — across LiDARs, IMUs, GNSS, and cameras
• Proven experience with non-linear optimization frameworks (Ceres, GTSAM, g2o) or filtering approaches (EKF, UKF)
• Strong C++ skills (C++17+) and working experience with Linux and ROS/ROS2
• Understanding of how calibration quality propagates through localization and perception
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, or related field

We Prefer

• MS or PhD with a focus on calibration, localization, or state estimation
• Experience building online/runtime calibration monitoring for deployed autonomous systems
• Experience with factor graphs, graph-based SLAM, or open-source tools like Kalibr, LIO-SAM, GLIM, Ceres, GTSAM
• Track record of deploying calibration or localization systems on real hardware in production environments
• Experience defining safety-relevant thresholds and working with safety monitoring architectures
• Familiarity with OpenCV, PCL, or Open3D