Autonomy Lead
Anduril · Costa Mesa, United States · 3mo ago
Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.
ABOUT THE TEAM
Anduril's Maritime Division is responsible for planning and executing Anduril's product and revenue roadmap for maritime missions. Working across product, engineering, business development, logistics, and operations, the Maritime team develops, tests, deploys, and sustains the Anduril maritime capabilities in a challenging operational environment worldwide. As a leader in the Maritime Division, you must be a technical leader with the expertise to evaluate, qualify, manage, and advocate for an increasing number of sophisticated parallel pursuits. This role is crucial in ensuring that each initiative aligns with the company's strategic direction and receives the appropriate resourcing, balancing innovation with practical execution to drive the business line's success.
ABOUT THE JOB
You will own the Autonomy software stack within Mission Systems for a maritime autonomous vehicle, owning the software that enables autonomous mission execution. Reporting to the Mission Systems Lead, you will cover system design, mission planning, mission operations, perception, debrief, and software development infrastructure. You will define how the vehicle plans, executes, perceives, and learns from missions autonomously across long ranges of open ocean beyond line of sight.
Your spectrum of support will be diverse in nature and require you to leverage your technical expertise as well as leadership skills to set objectives, build cross-functional teams, and rapidly drive to completion. The ability to leverage your intuition and prior experience will be key in making sure the right design, analysis, and test steps are completed to ensure success. The ideal candidate will leverage their experience executing and successfully completing prior highly optimized multi-disciplinary projects.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Own the autonomy software architecture: planning, execution, perception, and debrief
- Drive design of mission planning systems for autonomous maritime operations
- Drive mission execution software that manages vehicle behavior during missions
- Own perception systems that enable the vehicle to sense and interpret its environment
- Develop mission debrief capabilities for post-mission analysis and continuous improvement
- Build and maintain software development infrastructure (CI/CD, simulation, SITL/HITL)
- Define interfaces between autonomy stack and vehicle management system
- Manage autonomy deliverables across development phases
- Provide technical mentorship to software and systems engineers
- Drive development of test and simulation fixtures for autonomy validation
- Represent the autonomy subsystem in technical and customer meetings
- Interface with Mission Systems Lead and Vehicle Systems on integration
- Travel up to 25% to test sites and customer locations
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent
- 5+ years of experience in autonomous systems, robotics, or AI/ML
- Experience delivering software through full product development cycles
- Demonstrated experience with autonomous navigation, planning, or perception systems
- Experience with modeling, simulation, and SITL/HITL testing
- Experience developing safety-critical or high-assurance software
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with maritime autonomous systems (AUV, UUV, USV)
- Working knowledge of ROS, behavior trees, or mission planning frameworks
- Experience with computer vision, sonar processing, or undersea perception
- Familiarity with distributed software architectures and edge computing
- Prior experience in defense or government programs
The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:
Benefits
At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.
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