Software Engineer, Sensing Systems

CHAOS Industries•El Segundo, CA

5d•$154,000 - $211,000•Onsite

About The Position

CHAOS Industries is hiring an early software engineer for its electro-optical team, initially working with long-range EO/IR sensors and potentially supporting sensors on mobile and airborne platforms. The role focuses on software that enables individual sensors and multi-sensor systems to operate together. It is a software engineering position, not a specialist role in cameras or computer vision, and calls for strong engineering skills, curiosity about physical systems, and an understanding of sensor behavior in real-world conditions. The engineer will build software that works across different sensor heads and configurations, and create harnesses and workflow graphs that move capabilities from development through simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and end-to-end field testing. The team is working toward autonomous tests against real hardware at test sites, along with improved simulation and replay. The role also includes integrating radar, cameras, and other sensors, and deploying, monitoring, and fixing software on edge hardware at test and customer sites. The team tests its work in the field, including live testing and updates. The position is onsite in El Segundo, California, with regular travel to test sites and field deployments. U.S. Person status is required because the role involves access to U.S.-only data systems, and the candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. The role is not focused on algorithm research, high-fidelity physics modeling, applied machine learning, or pure DevOps.

Requirements

At least 3 years of professional software engineering experience, including end-to-end ownership of a production system: designing, shipping, and fixing it.
A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Strong Python skills, including building services and tools used by other engineers.
Comfort with Linux, Docker, networking, and CI, including bringing a multi-service system up on unfamiliar hardware.
Experience using AI coding tools such as Cursor or Claude Code effectively, with sound judgment about what to delegate; able to write, explain, and debug code independently.
Practical grounding in physical systems through education, hands-on hardware, sensors or robotics work, or field experience; able to read a schematic, understand a test rack, and communicate with optics or RF engineers.
Willingness and appetite to work at test sites and debug and ship fixes before the next flight.
A habit of measuring and relying on experimental data rather than guessing.
Onsite work in El Segundo, California, and regular travel to test sites and field deployments.
U.S. Person status, as the position requires access to U.S.-only data systems.
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience with cameras, EO/IR sensors, gimbals, radar, or video pipelines such as GStreamer or DeepStream.
Embedded Linux or edge computing experience, especially with NVIDIA Jetson, and GPU or CUDA work.
Experience in robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, or aerospace.
Experience with hardware-in-the-loop test rigs or test automation against real hardware.
Simulation or game-engine experience, such as Gazebo, Isaac Sim, or Unreal.
Experience building AI agent harnesses or workflow graphs.
C++ or TypeScript skills.
Defense or aerospace experience, or a current U.S. security clearance.

Responsibilities

Build software that works across different sensor heads and configurations while meeting performance needs and adapting to mission and customer requirements.
Develop harnesses and workflow graphs to move capabilities from first commit through simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing to end-to-end field testing with minimal manual effort.
Build systems that autonomously run complete tests against real hardware at test sites and report results.
Improve simulation and replay so that more features can be developed and validated before reaching hardware.
Build interfaces, timing, and data flows that integrate radar, cameras, and other sensors into one system.
Deploy, monitor, and provide live fixes for software running on edge hardware at test and customer sites.
Participate in field testing and debug and ship fixes for software running on physical systems.