Autonomy Engineer

Matternet•Mountain View, CA

3d•$160,000 - $205,000

About The Position

Matternet is building autonomous drone networks for delivery across healthcare, logistics, food, and retail. The Autonomy Engineer develops onboard decision-making software that enables aircraft to complete safe and reliable autonomous Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) missions, from open airspace to dense urban areas. The role spans mission management, contingency handling, and path planning, with ownership of key aircraft behaviors from development through deployment to production fleets. The engineer designs and implements autonomy behaviors, develops path planning and trajectory generation, and integrates autonomy with perception and the onboard flight software stack. They validate software through simulation and flight tests, analyze flight logs, support field and flight-test issue triage, and collaborate with Engineering, Operations, Flight Test, and Safety to define and refine aircraft behaviors. The expected starting salary range is $160,000–$205,000, based on San Francisco Bay Area market data. Final compensation depends on experience, skills, level, location, and potential impact. Compensation packages also include equity and benefits.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
At least 3 years developing autonomy, planning, or decision-making software for robots, drones, or autonomous vehicles.
Strong proficiency in C++ (C++11 and later) and Python, including multithreading and real-time messaging.
Strong Linux background.
Experience with state machines, behavior trees, or similar decision-making frameworks.
Solid foundation in path planning and applied math, including geometry, coordinate transforms, and kinematics, for navigation and avoidance.
Experience validating software in simulation and on real hardware.
Proficiency with version control and peer code review workflows, such as Git.
Clear technical communication and strong cross-disciplinary teamwork.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with an autopilot stack such as ArduPilot or PX4.
UAV, aerospace, or other safety-critical, regulated product experience.
Experience with collision avoidance and deconfliction with crewed and uncrewed air traffic.
Experience with ROS/ROS2 and simulation environments such as Gazebo.
Experience with distributed systems or networking.
Experience with Docker and containerized build, test, and deployment.
Experience using AI coding assistants to accelerate development.

Responsibilities

Design and implement onboard autonomy behaviors, including mission sequencing, flight deconfliction, and contingency management.
Develop path planning and trajectory generation that account for airspace, obstacles, and vehicle limits.
Develop fault detection and safe contingency responses.
Integrate autonomy with perception and the onboard flight software stack.
Validate behaviors in simulation and flight tests, analyze flight logs to refine them, and drive releases through to production fleets.
Support field and flight-test triage of autonomy issues and drive fixes through to the fleet.
Collaborate with Engineering, Operations, Flight Test, and Safety to define and refine aircraft behaviors.