Software Engineering Manager (Defense/PhysicalAI)

Applied Intuition; Washington; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Applied Intuition is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead a 10–12 person software team in high‑stakes, customer‑facing programs. You will hire, mentor, and guide engineers, set technical direction, and build repeatable delivery practices to scale our vehicle intelligence products.

In a high‑visibility environment, you’ll partner with defense and government customers, review architectures, own delivery outcomes, and balance quality with speed while staying closely involved in technical work as

Qualifications

• 8-12 years of industry experience with at least 2 years in technical leadership.
• Production-grade software experience deploying software or hardware to active customers.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace, or a related field.
• Strong customer-facing skills and ability to mentor engineering talent.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead a 10–12 person software engineering team to own end-to-end delivery.
• Hire, develop, and coach engineers; set technical direction.
• Build repeatable delivery practices for scalable programs.
• Represent Applied Intuition with defense and government customers.
• Stay close to technology; review architectures and drive critical tradeoffs.
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure successful outcomes.
• Own technical outcomes and drive projects to completion.

Skills

Customer-facing

Leadership/mentoring

Problem-solving

Production-grade software

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace, or related field

Job description

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

About the role

As the Engineering Manager, you'll lead a team of 10-12 Software Engineers Engineers, who each operate like startup CTOs: owning end-to-end execution of high-stakes projects while forward deployed into initiatives. Your job is to make this team scale, hiring and developing exceptional engineers, setting technical direction across engagements, and building the repeatable delivery practices that let us bring physical AI to more platforms and more customers without sacrificing quality or speed.
This is a high visibility player-coach role in a significant customer-facing, mission-critical environment. You'll represent Applied Intuition with authority in front of defense and government customers, own delivery outcomes across a portfolio of concurrent programs, and serve as the escalation point when projects hit ambiguity, changing requirements, or hard technical tradeoffs. You'll be expected to stay close to the technology, reviewing architectures, pressure-testing integration approaches, and diving in when a program needs it. Fielding intelligent machines is a systems problem spanning software, hardware, and operations, and your team sits at the center of it.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Work directly with defense and government customers to deploy, integrate, and operationalize Applied Intuition's vehicle intelligence products in military and government environments, from defense contractors to forward operating bases

• Tackle a broad range of technical challenges, including software engineering, operating system configuration, system deployment, and hardware integration

• Bridge customer-built systems and Applied’s solutions to deliver tangible value

• Design and implement scalable, consistent approaches for customer engagement and project execution

• Develop architectural solutions that improve consistency and scalability across projects

• Collaborate with internal engineering, product, and customer teams to ensure successful outcomes

• Take ownership of technical outcomes and drive projects to completion, adapting to changing requirements and priorities

We're looking for someone who has:

• 8-12 years of industry experience with at least 2 years, recent technical leadership exposure.

• Production grade SW experience. Has deployed SW or HW systems to active customers (not R&D, one-off projects)

• Exceptional customer-facing skills and focus on solving customer problems

• A proven mentor and leader of engineering talent

• Strong engineering background, preferred in fields such as Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering

• Broad technical experience across software engineering, operating systems, and some hardware

• Experience supporting integration and deployment of complex systems

• Exceptional problem-solving skills and a proven ability to thrive and innovate independently within highly ambiguous and rapidly evolving operational environments

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace, or a related field

Security Requirements:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen

• Must hold or be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

For more information about U.S. security clearances: click here.

FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request. If you require an accommodation please contact [e-mail]. We will work with you!