Perception Engineer, Autonomy (Air Domain)

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

About the role

As a Perception Engineer, you will help build the perception layer of an autonomy stack for uncrewed air vehicles. The team turns noisy, intermittent data from many sensors and teammates into a reliable picture of the airspace.
This role spans classical state estimation and tracking, sensor fusion, and learning-based prediction. Increasingly, those models adapt online during an engagement from limited and delayed feedback. The engineer will design and implement real-time C++ algorithms, build the tooling and simulation studies that show whether they work, and carry ideas from research prototypes into deployable software. We need someone fluent in both estimation theory and machine learning, rigorous about measuring results, and comfortable working at the line between research and production.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Develop, integrate, and adapt cutting-edge AI/ML algorithms running on the perception autonomy stack to collect relevant information across a suite of platform sensors

• Create interfacing software to autonomously control sensors (e.g., EO, IR, acoustics, radar, and RF)

• Collaborate across the sensor, tracking, and autonomy teams to ensure seamless deployment of heterogeneous platform swarms in on-site DoD testing and demonstration events

• Deploy containerized solutions to embedded Linux devices, leveraging computer-in-the-loop testing and profiling, and efficiently collecting performance data

• Interact with the DoD customer to understand their use cases, requirements, and triage needs during field events to deliver a superior customer experience

We're looking for someone who has:

• BS/MS in Electrical, Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field, plus 3+ years building perception or estimation software for autonomous systems.

• Strong modern C++ (17/20) for real-time, performance-critical code on Linux. Comfortable with linear algebra libraries (e.g. Eigen) and profiling.

• Solid grounding in state estimation: Kalman filter variants (EKF/UKF), multiple-model filters (IMM), and covariance and uncertainty handling.

• Experience with multi-target tracking and sensor fusion: data association, track management, and fusing heterogeneous sensors that report intermittently and with noise.

• Working knowledge of machine learning for prediction, including sequence models (RNN/LSTM, transformers), training pipelines, and evaluating models on held-out data.

• Python for data pipelines, analysis and visualization of logged and simulated runs.

• Experience validating algorithms in simulation and with recorded data: designing experiments, defining metrics, and reading results honestly.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Vision, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field2+ years of experience in industry.

Security Requirements:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen

• Must hold or be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

For more information about U.S. security clearances: click here.

Nice to have:

• Experience with online, real-time learning: models that adapt during operation, not just offline training.

• Background in adaptive control or learning-based estimation (e.g. concurrent learning, Lyapunov-based learning, Bayesian or recursive least-squares parameter estimation).

• Experience learning from intermittent, delayed or sparse feedback, where ground truth arrives late or only sometimes.

• Behavior and intent prediction for other agents, including models of non-cooperative or adversarial actors.

• Deploying small neural networks in C++ without heavy ML frameworks, under tight latency and compute budgets.

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.