Software R&D Engineer

The Pennsylvania State University•University Park, FL

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) is seeking a Software R&D Engineer for its Autonomy and Emerging Technology Department. The department develops and evaluates advanced capabilities for the Subsea and Seabed Warfare mission area. The role focuses on autonomy, underwater robotics, and prototype system integration to transition technologies to Navy sponsors. The position is fully on-site in State College, Pennsylvania, and requires periodic travel to remote locations. The engineer develops and contributes to software for autonomy on unmanned vehicles (UxVs), including adaptive mission behaviors, environmental awareness, distributed autonomy, multi-vehicle coordination, and integration with sensors and payloads. The role also advances UxV simulation, field testing, and fleet-relevant autonomy capabilities, and works with multidisciplinary engineering teams on undersea navigation, endurance optimization, acoustic communications, environmental modeling, and autonomy-enabled concepts of operations. Prototype architectures are developed and tested using software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and on-water testing. Higher-level responsibilities include conducting research, development, testing, and evaluation for Department of Defense sponsors and national security missions; applying engineering principles and emerging technologies; leading analyses, simulations, laboratory experiments, field tests, and prototype demonstrations; designing and integrating mission-critical systems; applying systems engineering throughout the project lifecycle; and developing test plans, procedures, data collection methods, and performance metrics. The position may be filled at either the Intermediate Professional level, requiring a bachelor’s degree in engineering or science and at least two years of relevant experience, or the Advanced Professional level, requiring the same degree and at least five years of relevant experience. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and eligible to obtain a government security clearance. Employment also requires background checks, participation in ARL drug testing, and compliance with monitoring requirements applicable to federal contractors.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or science.
At least 2 years of relevant experience for the Intermediate Professional level, or at least 5 years for the Advanced Professional level.
Experience with C/C++, Python, Java, or similar programming languages.
Experience with Agile software methodologies.
Experience with DevSecOps, specifically GitLab and/or Atlassian tools such as JIRA, Bitbucket, and Confluence.
Experience designing software using containerization technologies (Open Container Initiative, Docker, K8s/K3s) and microservice architectures.
Experience with software testing and evaluation.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Must be eligible to obtain a government security clearance and may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility if required.
Must participate in ARL’s drug testing program and comply with electronic and physical monitoring requirements applicable to federal contractors.

Nice To Haves

Experience with UxV systems, including platforms, mission payloads, launch and recovery, acoustic communications, and energy management.
Knowledge of oceanography, seabed features, and environmental data used for UxV autonomy.
Past success supporting Navy missions, operational training, or UxV fleet experimentation.
Experience developing or using UxV simulation frameworks, including platform, payload, or environmental modeling.
Experience with autonomy for unmanned systems, including autonomy architectures, behavior frameworks, and mission planning for undersea missions.
Experience with undersea navigation and perception autonomy behaviors and UxV autonomy standards such as MOSA, A-GRA, UMAA, or PCX.
Experience with UxV simulation, evaluation, and verification environments.
Experience testing and evaluating maritime platforms.
Research experience in vehicle autonomy, machine learning, autonomous systems simulation/evaluation, undersea sensors, or vehicle systems.
Previous Navy systems development related to unmanned systems.
Technical experience developing software for autonomous or unmanned systems.
Advanced degree in engineering, computer science, software, or machine learning.
Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Secret level or higher.

Responsibilities

Develop and contribute to software implementation, testing, evaluation, and deployment of autonomy for unmanned vehicles (UxVs).
Develop autonomy capabilities such as adaptive mission behaviors, environmental awareness, distributed autonomy, multi-vehicle coordination, and integration with UxV sensors and payloads.
Advance UxV simulation, field testing, and fleet-relevant autonomy capabilities.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary software and systems engineers working on undersea navigation, endurance optimization, acoustic communications, environmental modeling, and autonomy-enabled concepts of operations.
Develop and test prototype architecture solutions using software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and on-water testing.
Collaborate regularly with the software team, project lead, and other laboratory collaborators.
For higher-level appointments, conduct and lead research, development, testing, evaluation, analytical studies, modeling and simulation, laboratory experimentation, field testing, and prototype demonstrations.
For higher-level appointments, design, develop, integrate, analyze, and evaluate complex systems and technologies within assigned technical disciplines.
For higher-level appointments, apply systems engineering principles across requirements development, architecture, design trade studies, integration, verification, validation, risk management, and configuration management.
For higher-level appointments, develop experimental plans, test procedures, data collection methodologies, and performance metrics; analyze results and recommend design improvements.