Software Integration Engineer - Defense

Applied Intuition•Ann Arbor, MI

10d•$120,000 - $170,000•Onsite

About The Position

Applied Intuition is seeking a Systems Integration Engineer to be responsible for the hardware and software decisions critical to vehicle builds. This role involves hands-on work across hardware, embedded systems, and autonomy software, taking a vehicle from its initial architecture to a functional, demo-ready system. The engineer will make and defend technical tradeoffs related to compute and sensor architecture, harness design, and drive-by-wire (DBW) integration. This is a systems/hardware engineering role that requires extensive travel, including international travel and extended stays, to lead builds and installations in person.

Requirements

2+ years of experience in systems/integration engineering, ideally on automotive, robotics, defense, or autonomy programs.
Working knowledge of vehicle hardware integration — harnessing, sensor/compute mounting, and hardware architecture — sufficient to make and defend build decisions.
Comfortable making and owning real engineering tradeoffs under a firm deadline (e.g., tuning approach, sensor spec, hardware architecture).
Willingness and ability to travel extensively, including internationally and for multi-week stretches.
Excellent written and verbal communication, able to move fluidly between deep technical detail and higher-level engineering summaries.
Must be a U.S. Citizen
Must hold or be eligible for a U.S. Secret security clearance

Nice To Haves

Experience with drive-by-wire (DBW) systems and low-level vehicle controls (PID tuning, system identification, slippage/traction compensation).
Experience specifying or validating camera/sensor requirements (ISP tuning, latency, resolution, frame rate).
Experience standing up new operational sites or facilities, including vendor sourcing and regulatory/permit coordination.
BS in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
Experience on defense or government customer programs.

Responsibilities

Define hardware architecture for a build (compute, sensors) and drive procurement of long-lead-time components, including supplier onboarding and purchasing-process decisions.
Coordinate wiring harness design/build and sensor mounting workstreams, resolving cross-team dependencies between mechanical design, harness build, and shipping timelines.
Specify sensor tuning requirements (e.g., camera ISP parameters, resolution, glass-to-glass latency) in partnership with hardware and perception teams, and track them to closure.
Partner with autonomy and low-level controls teams to scope DBW validation and tuning plans, distinguishing what's needed for teleoperation vs. full autonomy.
Identify and flag technical risk early (e.g., insufficient DBW tuning lead time ahead of a demo) directly to the engineering team, and drive a resolution.
Travel onsite — domestically and internationally, including extended stays — to lead vehicle builds, hardware installs, and demo prep in person.
Scope new operational sites in new regions from an engineering standpoint: assess power/network/IT infrastructure needs and prep hardware for regulatory/compliance site visits.
Work daily across hardware, embedded, and autonomy software teams to resolve integration issues and keep builds moving.
Communicate fluidly between deep technical detail and higher-level engineering summaries when working with adjacent teams.