Senior UAV Autonomy Engineer: GPS-Denied Navigation

SiMa Technologies, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 121,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits package

Job summary

SiMa.ai in San Jose, CA is seeking a hands-on UAV Autonomy Engineer to build the core of our drone stack. You will own GPS-denied navigation and autonomous docking, developing perception, localization, and control software for aircraft to sense, avoid obstacles, and land accurately without GNSS on embedded hardware.

You will lead the development of our autonomy stack, integrate with PX4/ArduPilot via MAVLink, optimize for edge hardware, and participate in flight testing to close the sim-to-real

Qualifications

• 5+ years building autonomy software flown on real aircraft.
• Hands-on expertise in VIO/SLAM, multi-sensor fusion and state estimation.
• Fluent in modern C++, Python, and ROS 2; strong grasp of 3D geometry and rigid-body dynamics.
• BS/MS in Robotics, Aerospace, CS, EE, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the core drone autonomy stack.
• Develop GPS-denied navigation and autonomous docking capabilities.
• Implement perception and motion planning for obstacle avoidance and path planning.
• Optimize the stack for embedded hardware with power/weight constraints.
• Conduct camera-IMU calibration, SIL/HIL rigs, and flight testing to close the sim-to-real gap.

Skills

Flight experience

Autonomy depth

Software & math

Education

BS/MS in Robotics, Aerospace, CS, EE

Tools

ROS 2

PX4/ArduPilot

MAVLink

Job description

SiMa.ai in San Jose, CA is seeking a hands-on UAV Autonomy Engineer to build the core of our drone stack. You will own GPS-denied navigation and autonomous docking, developing perception, localization, and control software for aircraft to sense, avoid obstacles, and land accurately without GNSS on embedded hardware.

You will lead the development of our autonomy stack, integrate with PX4/ArduPilot via MAVLink, optimize for edge hardware, and participate in flight testing to close the sim-to-real