Principal Software Engineer, Perception

ABOUT THE ROLE Join the perception team at a maritime autonomy company, setting the technical direction for perception systems used on autonomous vehicles. You will help turn complex sensor data into reliable information that supports safe operation in challenging ocean environments. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Set architecture and technical direction for sensor fusion, localization, tracking, mapping, and uncertainty estimation. - Integrate radar, cameras, and other sensor modalities into reliable inputs for downstream autonomy systems. - Partner with autonomy, navigation, and applied machine learning teams to support safe vehicle behavior. - Translate research and algorithms into production systems that meet sensor, compute, latency, and environmental constraints. - Guide senior and staff engineers through technical reviews, architecture decisions, and hands-on problem solving. - Shape data labeling, ground truth datasets, and evaluation frameworks for improving perception performance. - Contribute to team growth through technical mentorship and hiring. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - At least 8 years of experience in perception or robotics engineering, operating at staff level or above. - Experience building and deploying production perception systems on autonomous vehicles or robots, with ownership of perception, sensor fusion, localization, or estimation. - Strong expertise in computer vision, sensor fusion, state estimation, tracking, mapping, probabilistic estimation, and uncertainty modeling. - Strong mathematical and algorithmic foundations, with experience translating algorithms into reliable onboard software. - Experience with constrained edge compute and latency-sensitive inference. Familiarity with C++, Python, Nvidia Jetson, RTOS, or minimal Linux environments is valuable. - Background in robotics, autonomous systems, aerospace, or defense. Maritime autonomy, radar, camera or infrared systems, active fleet deployments, and perception architecture across platform generations are valuable. - Ability to provide technical leadership and mentor engineers. - Must be a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder. Visa sponsorship is not available. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Base salary is $300,000 to $380,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. LOCATION Hybrid work arrangement in Alameda, United States.