{"id":818566,"url":"https://alion.io/job/vatnsystems-perception-engineer","title":"Perception Engineer","company":{"id":720699,"name":"Vatn","domain":"vatn.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/vatn-2","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":8,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-15T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Robotics","role_family":"Robotics","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Bristol, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":106000,"max_usd":207000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":99},"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Computer Vision","optional":false},{"name":"Perception","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"ROS","optional":false},{"name":"Sensor Fusion","optional":false},{"name":"PyTorch","optional":true},{"name":"PyTorch C++","optional":true},{"name":"Rust","optional":true},{"name":"TensorRT","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-03-04T21:41:32Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-25","last_verified_at":"2026-10-16T02:26:28Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":225,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":225},"description":"Perception Engineer \nAbout Vatn Systems:\nVatn Systems is an innovative startup at the forefront of designing and manufacturing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Our mission is to revolutionize underwater security, exploration, research, and operations through cutting-edge technology and unparalleled engineering. Our AUVs are defining the next generation of underwater autonomy.\nThe Role\nAs a Perception Engineer, you'll develop and improve the perception stack that powers our self-driving vehicles. Working hands-on with sonar and image data, you'll help build robust pipelines for detecting and tracking. You'll work closely with the autonomy team to integrate perception capabilities into bespoke behaviors, unlocking novel capabilities.\nWhat You'll Do\nImplement and maintain real-time perception pipelines on autonomous vehicle platforms.\nDevelop algorithms for obstacle detection, classification, and multi-object tracking.\nWrite and maintain ROS 2 nodes and packages for on-vehicle perception software.\nUtilize Python and C++ to develop and implement algorithms for obstacle detection, classification, and multi-object tracking.\nParticipate in on-site vehicle testing and debugging of real-world perception failures.\nCollaborate with localization, prediction, and planning teams to ensure clean perception interfaces.\nWhat We're Looking For\nRequired\n3-5 years of experience in robotics perception, computer vision, or autonomous systems.\nStrong Python skills for prototyping, scripting, and ML workflows.\nSolid ROS / ROS 2 experience, experience with commercial grade robotic systems.\nProficient in C++ for real-time, production-grade robotics software.\nExperience with 3D sensor data - LiDAR point clouds, depth estimation, or multi-sensor fusion. Marine sensor experience is a big plus!\nWorking knowledge of deep learning frameworks (PyTorch preferred) for detection or segmentation tasks.\nWorking knowledge of classical data-driven perception techniques.\nUnderstanding of 3D geometry, sensor calibration, and coordinate frame transformations.\nWillingness to work on-site and participate in physical vehicle test sessions.\nUS Citizen and ability to gain a security clearance.\nPreferred\nExposure to Rust for systems programming or robotics tooling.\nFamiliarity with AV-specific perception challenges: moving object tracking, occlusion handling, sensor degradation in adverse weather, GPS-denied localization.\nKnowledge of TensorRT or other inference optimization tools for real-time deployment.\nUnderstanding of AV safety standards or safety-critical software development practices.\nNice to Have\nPrior experience at a startup and/or defense company.\nExperience deploying perception models on embedded automotive hardware (Drive AGX, Jetson, etc.)\nVatn is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds to apply. We look forward to reviewing your application and potentially having you join our team in shaping the future of autonomous underwater vehicles.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3000,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Naval Systems","Underwater & Marine Robotics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-12T12:11:28Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":6,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.221,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":224,"expected_fill_days":33,"reasons":["conf:1","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-15T05:46:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/vatnsystems-perception-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/vatnsystems-perception-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-16T05:10:22Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2364,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-17T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":720699},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=720699"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-perception-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-perception-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-perception-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/vatnsystems-perception-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-perception-engineer"}]}