Technical Lead Software Engineer - Autonomy Mission Systems

Applied Intuition•Sunnyvale, CA

2d•$175,000 - $275,000•Onsite

About The Position

Applied Intuition is seeking a Technical Team Lead with strong foundations in algorithmic optimization, multi-agent systems, and all-around leadership skills. You will lead the team tackling the most complex computational challenges in our real-time decision-making platform, helping set the technical direction for advanced algorithms that push the boundaries of autonomous coordination and planning. We're seeking a mission-driven senior technical leader for our Autonomous Behaviors and Agents engineering team, focused on next-generation human-machine teaming and real-time decision-making systems. You will guide a team of engineers building intelligent agents that plan and execute missions using advanced reasoning, planning, and optimization algorithms, while remaining hands-on where it matters most. Our work spans real-time scenarios, heterogeneous platforms (air, space, land, surface, sub-surface), and software that integrates seamlessly with human operators. If you thrive on owning outcomes in fast-moving, mission-oriented environments and love building autonomy that helps our warfighters, this is your role. Your leadership will shape our Axion and Acuity family of systems, enabling breakthrough capabilities in human-machine teaming across all domains. If you're passionate about translating cutting-edge algorithms into shipped, mission-critical capability and growing the engineers who build it, then this opportunity might be for you!

Requirements

MS or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field, OR 8+ years of professional experience developing intelligent agents or planning systems
8+ years of hands-on experience developing performant modern C++ (we use C++20), with 2+ years leading engineering teams or serving as a technical lead on complex software programs
A track record of setting technical direction, driving architectural decisions, and delivering complex systems through a team, not just as an individual contributor
Strong theoretical understanding and practical experience implementing algorithms for constraint satisfaction, scheduling, and optimization problems
Deep procedural and object-oriented programming experience that employs clean code principles and good OOP design patterns, with the judgment to enforce them pragmatically across a codebase
Experience developing in Docker and containerized development environments, and using Linux-based operating systems (e.g., RHEL, Ubuntu)
Understanding of service-oriented architecture and message broker vs. data broker paradigms, and experience making system-level architectural tradeoffs
Ability to translate complex mathematical concepts into clear technical documentation, and to communicate designs, tradeoffs, and status crisply to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders
Experience mentoring engineers, running design and code reviews, and building healthy, high-performing team culture
Must be a U.S. Citizen
Must be eligible for a U.S. SECRET clearance with Special Access Program (SAP) eligibility

Nice To Haves

Prior work on defense, aerospace, or other safety-critical autonomy programs
Experience representing engineering in customer or program reviews
Experience with game theory for multi-agent coordination or negotiation protocols.
Familiarity with real-time optimization under hardware/edge constraints.
Background in Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) or defense applications.

Responsibilities

Drive the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for the Autonomous Behaviors and Agents team, and direct execution from concept through delivery
Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers, driving design reviews, setting engineering standards, and raising the bar on code quality and algorithmic rigor
Guide the design and implementation of multi-agent optimization algorithms for distributed decision-making and coordination problems
Direct development of temporal logic frameworks and constraint-satisfaction algorithms for complex planning scenarios
Partner with product, program, and customer-facing stakeholders to translate mission needs into technical priorities, scope, and delivery commitments
Coordinate cross-team integration and de-risk dependencies across the Axion and Acuity system families