Senior Staff Software Engineer, Perception

About the role

You will design and deploy advanced machine learning models to improve how autonomous systems interpret their surroundings. This role bridges the gap between research and field deployment, focusing on vision, vision-language, and vision-language-action models for defense applications.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Create, train, and refine vision-based models to enhance autonomous decision-making.
• Construct scalable data pipelines, supervised fine-tuning workflows, and evaluation loops.
• Optimize models for embedded hardware using TensorRT and ONNX.
• Apply machine learning to solve perception challenges for aerial and other autonomous platforms.
• Convert research concepts into reliable, production-ready software.
• Collaborate with autonomy, platform, and software engineering groups to integrate features into systems.
• Build testing frameworks and benchmarks to validate model performance and identify failure points.
• Enhance developer tooling and model lifecycle management to speed up production delivery.

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of experience with a Bachelor degree, 9 years with a Master degree, or 7 years with a PhD.
• Mastery of machine learning fundamentals.
• Proven track record of training and deploying computer vision models in production.
• Deep knowledge of 3D vision algorithms.
• Proficiency with PyTorch and TensorFlow.
• Expertise in model deployment using TensorRT and ONNX.
• Strong coding skills in C++ and Python.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.

Nice to have

• Experience building autonomous systems for the defense sector.
• Background in fine-tuning vision-language models, vision-language-action models, or world models.
• History of open-source contributions in machine learning or computer vision.
• Publication record in major robotics or computer vision conferences such as CVPR, ICCV/ECCV, RAL, or ICRA.

Skills & tools

• PyTorch, TensorFlow, C++, Python, ONNX, TensorRT.

Practical notes

• Compensation includes salary, bonus, equity, and benefits.
• Offers are subject to a background check and potential reference verification.
• Shield AI is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.
• Please inform the team if you require an accommodation due to a disability.