Sensing & Perception Engineer

Wardstone (YC F25); San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A technology company in San Francisco is seeking a Sensing & Perception Engineer to integrate sensor modules and build perception pipelines. The ideal candidate will have a B.S. in EE, CS, or similar, and strong experience in computer vision and IR/EO systems. This full-time role offers an entry-level position with competitive pay within the range of $100,000 to $160,000. U.S. citizenship is required for this role.

Qualifications

• Strong experience with IR/EO camera systems and imaging physics.
• Hands-on testing experience with thermal cameras and calibration targets.
• U.S. citizenship required for this position.

Responsibilities

• Integrate sensor modules into avionics architecture.
• Build perception pipelines capable of tracking high-speed objects.
• Design sensor test rigs and conduct hardware-in-the-loop tests.

Skills

IR/EO camera systems

Deep proficiency in computer vision

Real-time detection and tracking algorithms

Signal processing and filtering

Education

B.S. in EE, CS, Physics, or Robotics

Tools

OpenCV

NumPy

SciPy

C++

Python

Job description

Join to apply for the Sensing & Perception Engineer role at Wardstone (YC F25)

This range is provided by Wardstone (YC F25). Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

$100,000.00/yr - $160,000.00/yr

What You’ll Do

IR & EO Sensor Integration

• Integrate sensor modules into avionics architecture.
• Own sensor selection, FOV analysis, lensing, NUC, calibration workflows, and driver integration.
• Develop high-reliability camera interfaces: SPI/I2C, MIPI, USB3, Ethernet, GMSL, or custom buses.

Real‑Time Computer Vision & Tracking

• Build perception pipelines capable of tracking high-speed objects with extremely low latency.
• Implement target detection, centroid extraction, filtering, gating, and motion‑compensation algorithms.
• Develop robust tracking under noise, flare, thermal clutter, high dynamic range, and glint effects.

Sensor Fusion & Estimation

• Fuse IR/EO data with IMU, GPS, and onboard state estimators.
• Work with controls engineers to build perception‑to‑guidance interfaces for closed loop control.
• Build EKF/UKF filters, temporal alignment, and prediction modules.

Verification & Validation

• Design sensor test rigs: hot/cold targets, blackbody references, collimators, high‑G mounts.
• Conduct hardware‑in‑the‑loop tests with simulated targets, scene generators, and flight dynamics models.
• Collect, label, and analyze high‑speed footage from ground+flight experiments, HAB flights, and tracking tests.
• Stress‑test perception under temperature, vibration, and shock conditions.

Required Qualifications

• B.S. in EE, CS, Physics, Robotics, or similar.
• Strong experience with IR/EO camera systems, Radar, imaging physics, calibration, and noise modeling.
• Deep proficiency in computer vision (OpenCV, NumPy, SciPy, C++/Python).
• Experience implementing real‑time detection and tracking algorithms.
• Understanding of signal processing, filtering, sensor fusion, and coordinate transforms.
• Hands‑on testing experience using thermal cameras, radar, calibration targets, or optical equipment.
• U.S. citizenship required.

Nice to Haves

• Experience working with LWIR sensors (FLIR Boson/Tau, ULIS, Teledyne, etc.) or Radar Units.
• Background in missile seekers, UAV tracking, air‑to‑air systems, or autonomous robotics under high speed.
• Experience with GPU acceleration (CUDA, TensorRT), embedded systems, or FPGA‑based vision pipelines.
• Familiarity with optical modeling, lens design, radiometry, and atmospheric attenuation.
• Knowledge of IR scene modeling, signature tracking, or synthetic target generation.
• Experience with high‑dynamic‑range thermal environments or high‑G mount design.
• Exposure to defense/aerospace sensor standards or MIL‑STD environments.

Seniority Level

Entry level

Employment Type

Full‑time

Job Function

Engineering and Information Technology