Senior Manager, Perception

What you'll do

• Lead teams across autonomy, integration, and testing by aligning technical efforts, resolving cross-functional challenges, and driving mission-focused execution. Balance hands-on technical oversight with performance optimization, innovation, and clear stakeholder communication.
• Write production quality software in C++.
• Produce an Assured Position, Navigation, and Timing (A-PNT) system to enable reliable autonomy in GNSS-degraded or denied environments.
• Extend and specialize Shield AI’s state-of-the-art state estimation framework for new sensors, platforms, and missions.
• Write test code to validate your software with simulated and real-world data.
• Collaborate with hardware and test teams to validate algorithms/code on aerial platforms.
• Write analyzers to ingest data and produce statistics to validate code quality.
• Enhance sensor models within a high-fidelity simulation environment.
• Work in a fast-paced, collaborative, continuous development environment, enhancing analysis and benchmarking capabilities.

Required qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience.
• Ability to develop, benchmark, debug, and deploy software-based algorithms.
• Demonstrated problem solving skills by applying a scientific approach.
• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 8 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
• 2+ years managing technical teams.
• Demonstrated experience integrating and working with sensor payloads in the DoD space.
• Proficient with sensor fusion for noisy high-bandwidth exteroceptive sensors on compute-constrained systems.
• A solid foundation in theory related to state estimation, object detection, data association, probabilistic robotics, and signal processing.
• Experience working projects with 10+ contributors.
• Offers Fast, efficient, effective problem solving approaches.
• Exceptional collaborator and communicator.
• Comfortability within Unix environments.
• Hard-working, trustworthy teammate.
• Exhibits holding themselves and others to high standards.
• Being kind to others.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.

Preferred qualifications

• MS or greater in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience.
• Understanding of robotics technologies related to autonomous behavior development e.g. task allocation or planning.
• Understanding/Experience with unmanned system technologies and accompanying algorithms (specifically air domain).
• Familiarity with high-fidelity simulation and sensor modeling.
• Working knowledge of Kalman Filter, Factor Graphs and other modern estimator fundamentals.
• Strong working knowledge of Computer Vision with hands-on experience with OpenCV or similar CV libraries.
• Experience developing sensor effects (control) algorithms.
• Hands-on experience developing or implementing state of the art object detection/recognition pipelines.
• Active SECRET clearance.
• Experience with UCI and OMS Standards.