Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Computer Vision
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 13, 2026. First seen by Alion on Jun 23, 2026. Sphere Defense scores A on the Alion truth index.
Who we are
Sphere Defense is a fully funded technology startup with the mission of providing allied countries with sovereign, effective and seamless autonomous countermeasures to neutralize todays’ and tomorrow’s aerial threats.
Sphere Defense was founded by industry veterans with previous successful exits, and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the heart of Europe.
About you
You are an experienced and highly-motivated Principal Machine Learning Engineer that has architected, designed and implemented multi-modal perception pipelines based on computer vision on mission-critical autonomous systems, ideally flying robots or homing missiles.
What you’ll do
Be one of the first members of a high-performing team, designing and developing autonomous countermeasures to protect allied countries from aerial threats
Own, architect, design, develop, document and test state of the art perception pipelines based on vision and other data for situational awareness, detection, identification and tracking of targets
Integrate, evaluate and fuse data coming from EO/IR, IMUs, radars and other sources for target chasing
Be hands-on, working close to the hardware when needed during development and tests
Draft and review documentation and design documents
Be a team player and a mentor, being available to support and grow the team when needed
Location: Onsite in Brussels, Belgium. Our office is close to Central Station.
Reports to: Chief Technology Officer
Requirements
Master’s degree (PhD preferred) in Computer Vision, Automation, Robotics, or equivalent
At least 12 years of experience in relevant, industry or academy positions
Exceptional knowledge of Machine Learning and Computer Vision
Proficiency with one production language (C++ or Rust) and one prototyping language (Python)
Demonstrated ability to produce production-grade, highly optimized target code on resource constrained platforms
Demonstrated ownership of complex, production-grade perception pipelines based on vision (IR and RGB) in commercial systems
Experience with implementing and training machine learning models, including data quality topics
Strong understanding of control systems and state estimation
Experience with multi-modal sensor fusion (IMUs, radars, lasers, etc.)
Excellent interpersonal communication skills in written and spoken English; French or Dutch is a plus
You are a self-starter, able to work in a high-ambiguity environment and willing to take up new challenges
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with VIO/SLAM
Familiarity with ROS2 or iceoryx2
Experience with drones (fixed-wing, VTOL) or homing missiles
Experience with IR/thermal imaging and their calibration
Previous experience in the defense industry
What we offer
Attractive compensation
Year-end bonus
Stock Options Plan
Mobility Budget
32 days of holidays
Meal vouchers
Private Health insurance
We are building a core team of hard-working people. If you want to join a company with tremendous impact and you are autonomous, creative and driven, we want to hear from you!
Sphere Defense offers attractive compensation, stock options, and a unique opportunity to change the global defense landscape.
This role is only open to candidates with right to work in Belgium. We cannot provide visa sponsorship at this time.