Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Integration

Jobtailor; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in San Diego, CA is seeking a seasoned professional to coordinate software and hardware integration for the autonomy team, deploying and testing stacks across platforms including small UAS and unmanned fixed‑wing surrogates.

You will drive sensor selection for EO/IR and PNT perception testing, calibrate EO/IR sensors, manage data quality, and own the fly‑fix‑fly cycle, ensuring test objectives are met through field operations and rigorous analysis.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7–10 years experience with advanced degree; or equivalent work experience.
• Hands-on experience calibrating and time-aligning EO/IR and PNT sensors.
• Thrives in fast-paced field testing at hardware-software-flight-op boundary.
• Experience in design of experiments and flight test card development.
• Experience deploying perception software to edge hardware (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson).
• Background in perception topics such as object detection or SLAM.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate software and hardware integration across platforms for autonomy testing.
• Drive sensor selection for EO/IR and PNT perception software testing.
• Own the fly-fix-fly cycle by deploying and verifying the Hivemind Pilot stack.
• Calibrate EO/IR and PNT sensors, and synchronize time.
• Establish data quality standards and manage field data for offline analysis.
• Resolve ambiguities between software development and flight test operations.

Skills

Sensor calibration

Time synchronization

Python programming

C++ programming

Flight test operations

Data analysis

Perception software deployment

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Tools

NVIDIA Jetson

Embedded Compute Platforms

Job description

• Coordinate software and hardware integration activities that enable the autonomy team to deploy and test their stack across a range of platforms, including small UAS, manned fixed-wing aircraft, and unmanned fixed-wing surrogate platforms.


• Drive sensor selection for EO/IR and A-PNT perception software testing on operationally relevant or surrogate platforms; support flight test engineers in sensor bring-up, characterization, calibration, and maintenance.


• Own the fly‑fix‑fly cycle for autonomy and perception software: integrate the Hivemind Pilot stack onto target hardware, verify correct deployment and configuration, define test objectives for flight test campaigns, help execute tests in the field, and analyze collected data to determine pass/fail status against objectives.


• Own sensor calibration and time synchronization processes for all A-PNT and perception sensors used in testing, including camera intrinsic/extrinsic calibration and camera-IMU temporal alignment.


• Establish data quality standards and curate data management processes for field‑collected sensor data, ensuring that recordings from flight test campaigns are usable for offline analysis and algorithm development.


• Resolve technical and logistical ambiguities at the boundary between software development and flight test operations, and make command decisions that keep perception maturation efforts moving forward.

Requirements

• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.


• Hands‑on experience calibrating and time‑aligning EO/IR and position, navigation, and timing (PNT) sensors, including both COTS and military‑grade hardware.


• Demonstrated ability to thrive in fast‑paced field testing environments, with comfort operating at the intersection of hardware, software, and flight operations.


• Experience in design of experiments, flight test card development, and establishing verifiable, measurable test objectives.


• Experience deploying perception or autonomy software to edge hardware platforms (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson or comparable embedded compute).


• Proficiency in Python for data analysis and visualization; comfort reading and making targeted modifications to algorithms implemented in C++.


• Track record of solving problems that span hardware, software, and engineering capacity constraints across functional or organizational boundaries.


• Demonstrated academic training or professional experience in a core perception discipline such as object detection, object tracking, SLAM, or navigation, preferably in a defense or aerospace context.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in sensor calibration, time synchronization, and data management for autonomy and perception software testing across various platforms. Proficient in Python and C++ for data analysis and algorithm modification, with a strong background in flight test operations and experimental design.

Highest‑signal resume keywords

• Sensor Calibration


• Time Synchronization


• Python Programming


• Perception Software Deployment


• Flight Test Operations

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• EO/IR Sensor Calibration


• Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Sensors


• Data Analysis


• Algorithm Modification


• Design of Experiments

Soft Skills

• Problem Solving


• Adaptability


• Collaboration

Industry Keywords

• Autonomy


• Perception Software


• Flight Test Engineering


• Defense


• Aerospace

Tools & Technologies

• NVIDIA Jetson


• Embedded Compute Platforms