Autonomous Systems Firmware Engineer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics LaboratoryLaurel, MD
Onsite

About The Position

In the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory's (APL) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, hands-on engineering is applied to field tomorrow's groundbreaking solutions for government organizations. Dedicated, passionate multidisciplinary staff work side-by-side in the lab and in the field to build solutions to mission critical challenges. The people who work here embrace challenges, adapt to dynamic changing environments, and are continually looking to advance their technical and leadership skills. Our passion for engineering innovative solutions also applies to mentoring and coaching junior staff to continue to strengthen our impactful teams. We are seeking engineers with technical backgrounds in embedded firmware design who enjoy working across traditional discipline boundaries – from embedded software development to integration, testing, and system-level validation – to help us rapidly field autonomous sensor systems. Successful candidates are comfortable owning technical problems from concept through deployment and ensuring complete systems operate reliably in the real-world. With your help, we will continue to develop systems that collect the information needed for our partners to complete their missions in some of the most austere environments around the globe.

Requirements

  • Have a Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering or related field of study.
  • Have 3+ years of relevant experience with embedded systems, to include design, development, integration, and/or test of hardware/software systems.
  • Have demonstrated an ability and willingness to multi-task across several projects and work independently in small teams while meeting quick turnaround demands.
  • Are willing and able to work in classified laboratories and locations around the world to conduct field testing for 15% of your time.
  • Can interact effectively with team members of different experience levels and backgrounds, including leadership of teams and projects.
  • Are able to obtain an Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain a Top Secret level clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

Nice To Haves

  • Have a Master's degree in Electrical or Computer engineering or related field of study
  • Have 7+ years of related experience in industry or military
  • Have demonstrated technical or project management leadership of sophisticated electro-mechanical systems
  • Possess an active Top Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

  • Design and develop sophisticated embedded systems, from system architecture through integration and test, for autonomous platforms operating in challenging environments.
  • Develop and deploy real-time firmware and algorithms on embedded processors, DSPs, FPGAs, and RTOS-based platforms to enable sensing, control, navigation, and autonomous operations.
  • Specify, integrate, and validate commercial and custom hardware components – including sensors, actuators, cameras, navigation systems, and autopilots - into complete operational systems.
  • Plan and execute laboratory and field testing, analyze system performance, troubleshoot hardware and software issues, and drive design improvements using experimental and operational data.
  • Document system designs, engineering analyses, and test results, and present technical work to project and design review teams.

Benefits

  • robust education assistance program
  • unparalleled retirement contributions
  • healthy work/life balance
  • retirement plans
  • paid time off
  • medical
  • dental
  • vision
  • life insurance
  • short-term disability
  • long-term disability
  • flexible spending accounts
  • education assistance
  • training and development
  • sign-on bonus
  • relocation benefits
  • locality allowance
  • discretionary payments for exceptional performance
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