Skip to content
NODA AINODA AIAustin, TX

Senior Autonomy Engineer

Develops and validates the autonomy stack for adaptive orchestration of heterogeneous UAV, USV, and UUV fleets. The role requires 6+ years in autonomy or robotics, strong C++ and Python skills, experience with planning, navigation, middleware, simulation, and eligibility for a security clearance.

Salary not listed
Hybrid6+ YOEML Engineering

About the role

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement autonomy modules including path planning, task allocation, behavior trees, and reactive execution models.
  • Develop and maintain the autonomy framework integrating AI-driven mission planning and world modeling.
  • Ensure AI-generated plans are executable, explainable, and safe across multi-domain robotic platforms.
  • Implement and validate navigation, control, and autonomy behaviors for UAVs, USVs, and UUVs using event-driven middleware and simulation environments.
  • Profile and optimize autonomy performance for edge-compute hardware such as Jetson and Raspberry Pi-class devices.
  • Conduct simulation-in-loop and hardware-in-loop testing before live field deployment.
  • Contribute to safety, reliability, and compliance practices for defense-relevant missions.
  • Collaborate with AI, networking, and systems engineering teams on multi-vehicle operations.

Requirements

  • 6+ years of experience developing autonomy or robotics systems.
  • Proficiency in C++ and Python for real-time autonomy development.
  • Strong hands-on experience with event-driven or publish-subscribe middleware such as Zenoh, MQTT, or DDS.
  • Background in motion planning, navigation, and control systems.
  • Experience with state estimation, sensor fusion, and autonomy validation.
  • Familiarity with behavior trees, task allocation, or symbolic planners.
  • Knowledge of simulation environments such as Gazebo, Isaac Sim, or AirSim.
  • U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a security clearance.

Nice-to-haves

  • Rust proficiency for systems-level and real-time autonomy development.
  • Experience with multi-agent coordination and swarm robotics.
  • Exposure to UAV, UUV, and USV domains.
  • Familiarity with MAVLink, JAUS, or STANAG 4586.
  • Background in AI planning, reinforcement learning, or constraint solvers.
  • Experience optimizing autonomy for embedded and real-time performance.
  • Prior defense or aerospace autonomy experience.
  • Contributions to open-source robotics or autonomy projects.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision plans.
  • 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match.
  • Equity grants for new hires.
  • Unlimited PTO and 11 paid holidays.
  • Generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in November and December.
  • Generous parental leave and military leave.
  • FSA, dependent care FSA, and HSA options.
  • Professional development opportunities.
  • Access to One Medical.
  • 24/7 mental health resources, including therapy and legal and financial support.
  • Competitive salary and opportunities for career growth.

Skills

C++PythonRustzenohmqttddsmotion planningnavigationcontrol systemssensor fusionbehavior treesgazeboisaac simairsimmavlink

Similar roles

ML Engineering jobs
Airbnb

Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Trust

AirbnbUnited States

Builds and productionizes machine learning systems for trust and safety, including abuse detection, autonomous AI agents, and evaluation frameworks. The role requires 5+ years of applied ML experience, strong Python skills, experience with LLMs and scalable pipelines, and a relevant advanced degree or equivalent background.

200k – 235k/yrRemote5+ YOEML Engineering
Snowflake

Senior Software Engineer, Cortex Quality

SnowflakeMenlo Park, CA

Owns the quality, efficiency, and reliability of Cortex Code, Snowflake’s coding agent for data workflows. The role combines production software engineering, AI/LLM evaluation, experimentation, observability, and systems optimization, requiring 6+ years of experience and proficiency in Python, TypeScript, or Go.

200k – 270k/yrOn-site6+ YOEML Engineering
Reddit

Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Ads

RedditUnited States

Design, build, and deploy production ML systems for recommendations, search, ranking, and advertising at internet scale. Own the full ML lifecycle from modeling to monitoring with strong cross-functional collaboration.

217k – 303k/yrRemote5+ YOEML Engineering
OpenAI

Machine Learning Engineer, API Multicloud

OpenAISan Francisco, CA

Build production machine learning systems for model customization, post-training, evaluation, and AWS-native API integration. The role requires 7+ years of relevant engineering experience and expertise in deep learning, transformers, LLM fine-tuning, and production ML infrastructure.

295k – 445k/yrOn-site7+ YOEML Engineering
Reddit

Senior Machine Learning Infrastructure Engineer, Embedding Platform

RedditUnited States

Build and operate large-scale machine learning infrastructure and models for Reddit’s recommendation and personalization systems. The role requires 5+ years of ML engineering experience, expertise in deep learning and distributed systems, and proficiency with Python and modern ML frameworks.

191k – 267k/yrRemote5+ YOEML Engineering