Autonomy Engineer

Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Autonomy Engineer will identify, shape, apply, conduct, and lead engineering research that addresses critical U.S. government needs in the AI for Autonomy Lab. The lab researches and demonstrates AI-related technologies to improve autonomy systems. The role primarily focuses on enhancing simulation capabilities and applying simulation tools to autonomy projects. The engineer will develop prototype operational capabilities for government customers, conduct applied AI prototyping focused on machine learning for multi-domain autonomy and uncrewed systems, and help shape research and engineering strategy. The position is based onsite five days per week at SEI offices in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or Arlington, Virginia, with occasional travel to SEI offices, sponsor sites, conferences, and offsite meetings. Moderate travel (25%) outside the employee’s home location is expected. The employee will be subject to a background investigation and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related discipline and eight years of experience; or a master’s degree in the same fields and five years of experience; or a Ph.D. in Computer Science and two years of experience.
• Extensive research or engineering experience in applied autonomy and artificial intelligence.
• Experience with tools, techniques, algorithms, software, and programming languages related to deep learning, reinforcement learning, statistics, sensors and sensor fusion, planning, computer vision, or related areas.
• Demonstrated application of systems engineering principles and collaboration across multidisciplinary project teams.
• Experience supporting multiple phases of the engineering lifecycle and understanding requirements for successful deployment and operation of complex systems.
• Deep experience using simulators for development, machine-learning model training, and evaluation supporting uncrewed vehicle use cases.
• Understanding of current modeling techniques for building digital-twin 3D objects and environments, including challenges involving marine, land, or space domains, sensor performance, and collision meshes.
• Experience with physics-based simulators such as NVIDIA Isaac Sim.
• Strong understanding of robotics principles and design techniques for air, sea, or land-based vehicles, and experience applying machine learning in these domains.
• Experience in areas such as sensor fusion, navigation, object search and tracking, collision avoidance, multi-agent collaboration, and human-machine teaming.
• Understanding of machine-learning principles and experience applying machine-learning techniques to real-world problems, with a track record of successful implementations.
• Experience designing and implementing complex machine-learning functions and architectures tailored to autonomous systems.
• Familiarity with simulation environments and their role in training and testing machine-learning models.
• Experience designing and conducting system evaluations of ML components to assess operational fit and readiness.
• Experience with model experimentation software such as MLflow or Weights & Biases for model development and selection.
• Strong software development experience, including designing and implementing software and system resources for packaging and managing AI and ML prototype requirements.
• Regular use of tools such as Docker for managing software resources and pipeline orchestration.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to collaborate diplomatically with customers and colleagues, understand broad goals while attending to detail, and explain complex ideas to non-specialists.
• Ability to meet deadlines while multitasking under pressure and adapting to shifting priorities.
• Creativity, curiosity, ability to learn new procedures and techniques quickly, and ability to connect research and engineering with practical challenges.
• Broad technical interests and deep knowledge in a field such as machine learning, autonomy and adaptive systems, or data analytics.
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance and undergo a background investigation.
• Available to work onsite five days per week in Pittsburgh, PA, or Arlington, VA, and travel moderately (25%) outside the home location.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building applications on cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform.
• Track record of synthesizing lessons from research or engineering activities for publication and demonstrated research and engineering integrity.
• Contributions to and publication of research, code (such as models, data, or software applications), or technical perspectives.
• Familiarity with technical challenges and emerging trends in computing and information science, and with opportunities in industry and government.
• Experience leading technical projects, collaborating across research teams, and mentoring researchers.
• Experience formulating and delivering successful research and engineering proposals to funding agencies and leading the resulting projects.
• Experience with or familiarity with Navy, Marine, Air Force, Army, Space Force, DARPA, IARPA, Service Labs, or other government research sponsors.

Responsibilities

• Work with and lead interdisciplinary teams to turn research results into prototype operational capabilities for government customers and stakeholders.
• Conduct and lead novel applied artificial intelligence prototyping, focusing on machine learning in autonomy and multi-domain uncrewed systems.
• Work with AI Division leaders and colleagues to plan, develop, and carry out research and engineering strategy, and influence the national research and engineering agenda regarding future technology.
• Participate in teams of software developers, researchers, designers, and technical leads.
• Build relationships and collaborate with researchers, government customers, and other stakeholders to understand challenges, needs, possible solutions, and research and engineering directions.
• Mentor and teach others, participate in design sessions, and share technical insights across the SEI AI Division.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior