Principal Perception Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 1, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 15, 2026.
About the company
Our client is a defense technology company.
The role
Raydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Lead the technical vision for the software that lets an unmanned platform understand its surroundings from several kinds of sensors. The position combines hands-on engineering with architectural guidance, mentoring of experienced engineers, and a share in building out the team.
What you'll do
- Set the overall design and long-range direction for the perception software, from combining sensor streams to position awareness, object following and environment modelling.
- Take charge of the toughest technical challenges in merging inputs from different sensor types into one dependable feed for downstream control software.
- Collaborate with navigation, autonomy and machine learning colleagues so that perception results lead to safe and effective vehicle behavior.
- Convert promising research ideas into hardened production software that fits real limits on hardware, processing power, response time and rugged conditions.
- Coach senior engineers through design choices, code and design reviews, and practical problem solving, raising the overall capability of the group.
- Shape how data is labeled, how reference datasets are built and how performance is measured, so quality keeps improving over time.
- Contribute technical judgment to hiring and mentoring as the team grows.
Requirements
What we're looking for
- At least 8 years of hands-on work shipping perception software for unmanned vehicles, robotics, aerospace or defense systems.
- Direct ownership of production-grade perception, localization or estimation work.
- Deep command of multi-sensor data combination, probabilistic methods and uncertainty handling.
- A record of guiding architecture and technical strategy for complex autonomous products at a staff level or higher.
- Solid grounding in applied mathematics, linear algebra and algorithms behind vision and learning-based systems.
- Background at respected robotics, autonomy, aerospace or defense employers.
- Familiarity with computer vision and unconventional sensing, including radar and low-light conditions.
- US Person status (US citizen or Green Card holder), with no need for visa sponsorship or transfer.
- Ability to work hybrid, 3 days per week in the office.
Bonus points
- Enthusiasm for teaching and developing teammates.
- Experience deploying model inference on resource-limited hardware with strict timing needs.
- Master's degree or PhD.
- Background in marine autonomy, or in working with a mix of sensor types including radar, cameras and infrared.
- Experience steering the perception design of a platform through successive product generations.
Benefits
Compensation and benefits
- Base salary: USD 300,000 to 380,000 per year
- Equity
Location and work model
- Alameda, CA, United States
- Hybrid, 3 days per week in the office
- Full-time