Director of Engineering, Autonomy

BRINC • Seattle, WA

26d

About The Position

We are seeking a hands-on Director of Engineering, Autonomy to lead and directly contribute to the development of our next-generation autonomy, navigation, perception, and control systems for UAVs and public safety products. You will own the technical direction, architecture, and execution of the autonomy stack while writing code, prototyping algorithms, conducting reviews, and working shoulder-to-shoulder with the engineering team. This role requires deep technical expertise and the ability to guide engineers through critical design decisions, building high-reliability algorithms for localization, mapping, guidance, control, and intelligent mission behaviors. You will lead by doing, delivering production-grade autonomy on embedded robotic platforms, ensuring the system delivers for our customers in the real world.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Aerospace, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• 8–10+ years of experience developing autonomy, robotics, or real-time software systems, with 3–5+ years in a technical leadership role.
• Proven track record of delivering complex autonomy or robotics systems end-to-end.
• Strong proficiency in C++ and Python, with experience writing and reviewing high-quality, real-time production code.
• Deep technical strength in at least one autonomy domain (e.g., SLAM/VIO, GNSS/INS fusion, planning/guidance, controls, etc.).
• Strong understanding of software development methodologies, testing practices, and tooling for high-reliability embedded systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor engineers while remaining hands-on in design, implementation, debugging, and technical decision-making.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, capable of diagnosing complex system-level issues across compute, sensing, and control.
• Strong project leadership skills, with the ability to prioritize, drive execution, and manage multiple technical threads.
• Clear verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both engineering and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

• Expertise spanning multiple autonomy domains, enabling effective architectural leadership across the full stack.
• Experience designing and optimizing end-to-end autonomy pipelines for embedded UAS platforms.
• Background in robust or fault-tolerant autonomy, redundancy, or safety-critical systems.
• Familiarity with real-time systems, performance tuning, and deterministic behavior on embedded hardware.
• Knowledge of UAV reliability, flight safety, and operational requirements.
• Experience with ROS, PX4, MAVSDK, or similar robotics middleware.
• Ability to mentor senior engineers, elevate code quality, and drive architectural clarity through hands-on contribution.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical direction, architecture, and execution of the autonomy stack, including perception, navigation, controls, and mission logic.
• Contribute directly to algorithm design, implementation, prototyping, debugging, and optimization on embedded robotic platforms.
• Oversee planning and delivery of autonomy features and releases, ensuring high-quality execution and alignment with product and mission needs.
• Work side-by-side with engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and hands-on technical contributions.
• Mentor engineers and technical leads, promoting strong engineering fundamentals, autonomy domain expertise, and continuous improvement.
• Establish and uphold best practices in autonomy development, including coding standards, testing, simulation workflows, documentation, and validation processes.
• Build and refine simulation, HIL, and field-testing pipelines to ensure reliability, robustness, and real-world performance.
• Stay current with emerging autonomy technologies and evaluate their applicability to the product roadmap.
• Collaborate closely with software, embedded, hardware, product, and operations teams to integrate autonomy capabilities into complete UAV systems.
• Communicate technical risks, progress, and decisions to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans for our employees and their families
• 401K plan
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Flexible Time Off (Exempt) / Paid time off (Non-Exempt)
• Flexible work environment
• Orca pass (for those in Puget Sound)
• Free parking (Seattle office)
• Free snacks, drinks and espresso (Seattle office)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees