About the role

What will you do at True Talent Solutions Partners?

About the Role

Join the perception team at a growth-stage defense technology company building autonomous systems for demanding environments. As the Principal Software Engineer, you will set the technical direction for perception capabilities that support safe and effective vehicle autonomy.

What You'll Do

Define architecture and technical direction for sensor fusion, localization, tracking, mapping, and uncertainty estimation.
Integrate heterogeneous sensors, including radar and cameras, into reliable information streams for downstream autonomy.
Partner with autonomy, navigation, and applied machine learning teams to support safe vehicle behavior in complex ocean environments.
Turn research and advanced algorithms into production systems that meet onboard compute, latency, sensor, and environmental constraints.
Lead architecture decisions, technical reviews, and hands-on problem solving while mentoring senior and staff engineers.
Guide data labeling, ground truth dataset development, and evaluation frameworks, and contribute to hiring as the team grows.

What We're Looking For

At least 8 years of perception or robotics engineering experience, including staff-level technical leadership and architecture ownership.
Experience building and deploying production perception systems on autonomous vehicles or robots, including onboard software.
Deep expertise in sensor fusion, computer vision, localization, state estimation, tracking, mapping, probabilistic estimation, and uncertainty modeling.
Strong mathematical and algorithmic foundations, with experience using C++, Python, machine learning, and neural networks.
Experience running inference on constrained edge hardware under latency requirements, ideally with Nvidia Jetson or comparable systems.
Familiarity with multiple sensor modalities such as radar and cameras; maritime or ocean autonomy experience is a plus.
An advanced degree in a relevant field is preferred.
Must be a U.S. Person, such as a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

Compensation

& Benefits

Annual salary range: $300,000 to $380,000. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Location

Hybrid, based in Alameda, California, with three days per week in the office.

Which skills does this role require?

Sensor fusionComputer visionLocalizationState estimationTrackingMappingProbabilistic estimationUncertainty modelingC++PythonMachine learningNeural networksAutonomous systemsRoboticsEdge hardwareNvidia JetsonPerceptionDefense technologyUncertainty estimationRadarCamerasMaritime autonomyData labelingGround truthArchitectureProduction systemsOnboard computeLatencyAlgorithm developmentTechnical leadershipDefenseMachine Learning

Make your next move

Build a shortlist and prepare

Identify the requirements you can demonstrate, then choose examples from your work to discuss with the hiring team.

Build a focused shortlist before you applyCompare role requirements with your experience and give each application a clear reason.
Practice explaining your experience in an interviewRehearse your answers before meeting the hiring team.

Review the responsibilities and requirements before adding an opening to your shortlist.