Technical Lead - State Estimation

Overland AI; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary range $200K-$260K annually

Equity compensation

Healthcare, dental, vision plans

Flexible PTO

401k with company match

Parental leave

Job summary

Overland AI is building autonomous ground vehicles that must operate where GPS is unreliable and terrain is challenging. We seek a Technical Lead in State Estimation to define algorithms enabling precise localization and robust operation in demanding environments.

You will lead architecture across localization, mapping, sensor fusion, and probabilistic inference, guiding a team of robotics engineers toward a production-ready autonomy stack.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Robotics, CS, or EE with specialization in state estimation or SLAM.
• 5+ years building production-grade state estimation or SLAM on physical robots.
• Deep knowledge of probability, Bayesian estimation, optimization, and nonlinear inference.
• Expert C++ and strong Python development skills.
• Experience with low-latency, real-time robotics software.
• Strong multi-sensor fusion background (IMU, LiDAR, GNSS, cameras).
• Publications or notable contributions in SLAM or related fields.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement odometry, localization, and mapping algorithms for GPS-denied environments.
• Develop robust multi-sensor fusion systems (IMU, LiDAR, cameras, GNSS, encoders).
• Formulate estimation problems using KF, Bayes, factor graphs, and optimization.
• Evaluate learned approaches and integrate them where beneficial.
• Develop production-quality C++ (C++23) software for real-time robotics.
• Build tooling, simulation, and evaluation pipelines for large-scale datasets.
• Lead verification and validation across diverse terrains and conditions.
• Collaborate with perception, planning, controls, and platform engineering.
• Mentor engineers and establish best practices for robotics software.

Skills

C++

Python

ROS 2

Kalman filtering

Sensor fusion

GTSAM/Ceres/g2o

Real-time systems

Education

MS/PhD in Robotics/CS/EE

Tools

GTSAM

Ceres

g2o

Job description

Role Summary

Overland AI is building autonomous ground vehicles capable of operating where GPS is unreliable, terrain is unpredictable, and failure is not an option. We’re looking for a Technical Lead in State Estimation to define the algorithms that allow our vehicles to understand exactly where they are and keep them operating confidently in the world’s most demanding environments.

In this role, you’ll lead the architecture and development of our state estimation stack, solving challenging problems across localization, mapping, sensor fusion, and probabilistic inference. You’ll work at the intersection of cutting-edge robotics research and production autonomy, turning advanced estimation techniques into robust systems that perform reliably in real-world deployment.

As a technical leader, you’ll set the direction for state estimation at Overland, mentor a team of exceptional robotics engineers, and collaborate across perception, planning, controls, and platform engineering to build the next generation of autonomous off-road vehicles.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement odometry, localization, and mapping algorithms that enable reliable autonomy in GPS-denied and degraded environments.
• Develop robust multi-sensor fusion systems combining IMUs, LiDAR, cameras, GNSS, wheel encoders, and other onboard sensors.
• Formulate and solve estimation problems using Kalman filtering, Bayesian inference, factor graphs, nonlinear optimization, and modern probabilistic techniques.
• Evaluate and integrate learned approaches- learned odometry, feature representations, and neural mapping methods where they deliver measurable improvements over classical techniques.
• Develop high-performance, production-quality C++ (C++23) software optimized for real-time robotic systems.
• Build tooling, simulation infrastructure, and evaluation pipelines that enable rapid algorithm development and validation using large-scale field datasets.
• Lead verification and validation efforts across diverse terrain, weather conditions, and operational environments.
• Partner closely with perception, planning, controls, and systems engineers to deliver an integrated, reliable autonomy stack.
• Mentor engineers, drive technical excellence, and establish best practices for robotics software development.

Minimum Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field with specialization in state estimation, SLAM, localization, or probabilistic inference.
• 5+ years developing production-grade state estimation or SLAM systems deployed on physical robotic platforms.
• Deep expertise in probability theory, Bayesian estimation, optimization, and nonlinear inference, including:
  • EKF, UKF, Error-State Kalman Filters
  • Factor graph optimization (GTSAM, Ceres, g2o)
  • MAP/MLE estimation
• Demonstrated experience deploying robust estimation systems in complex, unstructured, or off-road environments.
• Expert-level C++ and strong Python development skills.
• Experience building low-latency, real-time robotics software.
• Strong understanding of inertial navigation, sensor calibration, and multi-modal sensor fusion (IMU, LiDAR, cameras, GNSS).
• Publications or significant technical contributions in SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, LiDAR-inertial odometry, localization, or related fields.

Desired Qualifications & Experience

• PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience incorporating machine learning into estimation pipelines.
• Experience with ROS 2 and real-time middleware (DDS, shared-memory transport).
• Experience with terrain-relative navigation, prior-map localization, or GPS-denied navigation.
• Contributions to widely used open-source robotics or estimation libraries.
• Experience leading technical teams, mentoring engineers, and driving architecture decisions.
• Experience shipping autonomy systems on production robotic or autonomous vehicle platforms.

Benefits

Overland AI believes in creating a work environment that you look forward to embracing every day.

• The salary range for this position is $200K to $260K annually
• Equity compensation
• Best-in-class healthcare, dental and vision plans.
• Flexible PTO
• 401k with company match
• Parental leave