We’re looking for an Autonomy Engineer to build the software that makes our AUVs capable in the real world. You’ll own features end to end — from whiteboard to sea trial — and see your code run on vehicles in the water within weeks, not quarters. If you want tight feedback loops between what you write and what a vehicle does, this is that job.
What you’ll do
- Develop motion planning, path planning, behavior planning, and control systems for autonomous underwater vehicles
- Build autonomy capabilities spanning navigation, collision avoidance, target following, station keeping, formation behavior, and multi-vehicle coordination
- Make autonomy algorithms robust to the conditions that actually break them: degraded sensors, uncertain environments, dynamic contacts, and GNSS-denied operation
- Own technical tradeoffs across performance, safety, reliability, latency, compute constraints, and mission requirements
- Work directly with perception and sensor engineers to turn perception outputs into safe, effective autonomy decisions
- Mature autonomy from prototype capability into reliable, repeatable, fielded behavior — including time on the water supporting test and deployment
What you bring
- Strong engineering foundation — CS, Software Engineering, Robotics, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent hands-on experience
- 3+ years writing production C++, Python, or Rust in a Linux environment
- Experience building robust data-driven software
- Ability to get up to speed quickly in complex, established codebases
- Proven results in simulation and field tests
Nice to have
- Maritime sensors, underwater acoustics, or subsea systems
- Advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in a relevant technical field
- ROS 2, or comparable robotics middleware
- Estimation and sensor fusion (INS/DVL, Kalman filtering)
- Prior startup and/or defense industry experience
Candidates must be U.S.Citizens and able to receive a Security Clearance.
Vatn is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds to apply.
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Autonomy Engineer employer: Vatn Systems
At Vatn, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer, particularly for the role of Sr. Metrology Engineer. Our dynamic work culture fosters collaboration between engineering and machining teams, ensuring that employees have ample opportunities for professional growth and development. Located in a state-of-the-art machine shop environment, we offer competitive benefits and a commitment to quality that empowers our team members to make a meaningful impact on production processes.
