Principal Software Engineer, Perception
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 15, 2026. First seen by Alion on Nov 15, 2026.
About the Role
Lead the technical direction and architecture for perception systems on autonomous maritime platforms. You will work across autonomy, navigation, and applied machine learning to deliver reliable information that supports safe vehicle behavior in demanding ocean environments.
What You'll Do
Set architecture and technical direction across sensor fusion, localization, tracking, mapping, and uncertainty estimation.
Integrate radar, cameras, and other sensor modalities into reliable inputs for downstream autonomy.
Partner with autonomy, navigation, and applied machine learning teams to improve vehicle behavior in complex operating conditions.
Turn research-grade algorithms into production systems that meet sensor, compute, latency, and environmental constraints.
Guide senior and staff engineers through architecture decisions, technical reviews, and hands-on problem solving.
Shape data labeling, ground truth datasets, and evaluation frameworks for ongoing system improvement.
Contribute to hiring and mentorship as the perception team grows.
What We're Looking For
At least 8 years of experience in perception or robotics engineering, operating at staff level or higher.
Production experience building and deploying perception systems on autonomous vehicles or robots, with direct ownership of perception, sensor fusion, localization, or estimation.
Deep expertise in sensor fusion, localization, state estimation, tracking, mapping, probabilistic estimation, and uncertainty modeling.
Strong mathematical and algorithmic foundations in areas such as computer vision and machine learning.
Experience with onboard software and deploying inference workloads on constrained compute with real-time latency requirements.
Proficiency in C/C++ and Python; familiarity with NVIDIA Jetson, RTOS, or minimal Linux environments is useful.
Background in robotics, autonomous systems, aerospace, or defense; maritime autonomy and experience with radar or infrared are valuable.
Technical leadership experience, including mentoring engineers and guiding architecture across complex systems.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary range: $300,000 to $380,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. Equity and benefits information was not provided.
Location
Hybrid role based in Alameda, United States.