Staff Software Engineer, Sensing Systems

CHAOS Industries•El Segundo, CA

5d•$211,000 - $290,000•Onsite

About The Position

CHAOS Industries is hiring one of the first software engineers on its electro-optical team, initially focused on long-range EO/IR sensors and potentially expanding to sensors on mobile and airborne platforms. The role is focused on building software that enables individual sensors and multiple sensors to operate as one system. It is a software engineering position that calls for curiosity about physical systems and an understanding of how real sensors behave in field conditions. The engineer will join a small team that tests its work in the field, makes live code changes, and evaluates results during subsequent tests and flights. The team is developing a capability-development and testing process that minimizes dependence on physical hardware early on: capabilities move from development through simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and full end-to-end testing in the real world. The role will build the harnesses and graphs that connect these stages, with the goal of autonomous end-to-end testing against real hardware at test sites. The work includes creating software that can operate across different sensor heads and configurations, improving simulation and replay, integrating multiple sensor types, and deploying and maintaining software on edge hardware at test and customer sites. This is not an algorithm research, physics modeling, applied machine learning, or primarily DevOps role. The position is on-site in El Segundo, California, with regular travel to test sites and field deployments. U.S. Person status is required, and the candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Requirements

At least 8 years of professional software engineering experience.
Experience owning a production system end to end, including designing, shipping, and fixing it when it breaks.
A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Strong Python skills, including building services and tools that other engineers depend on.
Comfort with Linux, Docker, networking, and CI, including getting a multi-service system running on unfamiliar hardware.
Experience using AI coding tools such as Cursor or Claude Code effectively, with judgment about what to delegate and the ability to write, explain, and debug code independently.
Grounding in the physical world through an engineering degree, hands-on hardware, sensor or robotics work, or field experience with systems used outside the lab.
Ability to read a schematic, understand a test rack, and communicate with optics or RF engineers.
Interest in field work and willingness to be on site when code runs, debug issues, and deliver fixes before the next flight.
A habit of measuring and validating assumptions with experiments and data.
On-site work in El Segundo, California, and regular travel to test sites and field deployments.
U.S. Person status, because 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.
GPU or CUDA experience.
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 experience.
Defense or aerospace experience.
A current U.S. security clearance.

Responsibilities

Build software that works across different sensor heads and configurations while meeting performance requirements and adapting to mission and customer needs.
Develop harnesses and graphs to move capabilities from initial development through simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing to full end-to-end tests, minimizing manual effort.
Build autonomous systems that run complete tests against real hardware at test sites and report results.
Improve simulation and replay to enable more development and validation before software is run on hardware.
Develop interfaces, timing, and data flow for integrating radar, cameras, and other sensors into a unified system.
Deploy, monitor, and make live fixes to software running on edge hardware at test and customer sites.
Participate in field testing and debug and ship fixes before subsequent flights or tests.
Build experiments and use measured data to validate system behavior.