{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"06b7765ceaa27ebd13cfae50","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/06b7765ceaa27ebd13cfae50","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/06b7765ceaa27ebd13cfae50","title":"Sr. Software Engineer, Perception","description":"Position Summary\nFlightWave Aerospace, a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to lead the development of perception systems powering the next generation of autonomous VTOL unmanned aircraft.\nThis role sits at the intersection of research and production—translating cutting-edge academic literature into robust, deployable systems. You will experiment with next-generation sensors and push the boundaries of perception to enable reliable autonomy in contested and dynamic environments.\nThe Senior Software Engineer will be responsible for designing, prototyping, and productionizing perception systems that are both resilient and rigorously testable. This includes building capabilities such as visual-inertial odometry (VIO) for GPS-denied navigation, object detection and classification for situational awareness, multi-object tracking for dynamic environments, and sensor fusion across modalities (e.g., cameras, IMUs, thermal sensors, and event-based cameras) to achieve robust state estimation and scene understanding under real-world constraints.\nFlightWave develops advanced unmanned aircraft systems for defense, public safety, and government security applications. Our platforms integrate high-performance edge compute with sophisticated robotics software to deliver autonomous mission execution in the most demanding environments.\nEssential Duties and Responsibilities\nPerception Leadership & System Architecture\nOwn the architecture and development of FlightWave’s perception stack, spanning sensing, state estimation, and scene understanding for autonomous VTOL systems\nLead the design and implementation of core perception capabilities, including visual-inertial odometry (VIO) for GPS-denied navigation, object detection and classification, multi-object tracking, and multi-sensor fusion across cameras, IMUs, thermal payloads, and emerging sensor modalities\nTranslate state-of-the-art research into production-ready systems, balancing performance, reliability, and computational constraints on edge hardware\nDefine perception system interfaces across autonomy, controls, and flight software to enable robust downstream decision-making\nDrive architectural decisions around real-time processing, synchronization, and data pipelines for high-rate sensor streams\nPerception Systems Development & Validation\nDesign and build perception systems that are robust to real-world challenges including low-light conditions, high dynamics, environmental noise, and adversarial or contested environments\nDevelop and maintain datasets, evaluation pipelines, and simulation environments to rigorously test perception performance across edge cases\nEstablish metrics and validation frameworks for perception accuracy, latency, and robustness across flight regimes\nLead efforts in flight test integration, debugging, and performance tuning of perception systems in real-world conditions\nCollaborate closely with hardware teams to evaluate and integrate next-generation sensors.\nOrganizational Development & Technical Mentorship\nHelp scale FlightWave’s perception and autonomy engineering capabilities as the company grows\nContribute to hiring and development of engineers with expertise in computer vision, state estimation, and sensor fusion\nPromote engineering best practices for building reliable, testable, and maintainable perception systems\nProgram Execution\nPartner with autonomy, controls, and systems engineering teams to deliver perception capabilities aligned with mission requirements\nEnsure perception systems support rapid iteration during flight testing while maintaining production-level reliability\nContribute to development workflows, testing strategies, and deployment pipelines that support both research experimentation and operational deployment\nExternal Collaboration & Integration\nWork with external partners, research institutions, and vendors to evaluate and integrate third-party perception technologies where appropriate\nEnsure externally developed perception components align with internal architecture, performance standards, and mission requirements\nCoordinate integration of external and internal systems to accelerate development while maintaining system integrity\nRequired Qualifications\nBachelor's degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field\n5+ years of professional experience developing perception, robotics, or autonomy systems\nDemonstrated experience taking perception systems from research or prototype to production deployment in real-world environments\nStrong foundation in computer vision, state estimation, and sensor fusion, with hands-on experience implementing systems such as visual-inertial odometry (VIO), SLAM, object detection, and multi-object tracking\nStrong proficiency in C++ and/or Python, with experience building real-time, performance-critical systems\nExperience working with multi-sensor systems (e.g., cameras, IMUs, thermal sensors), including calibration, synchronization, and data fusion\nExperience developing software tightly integrated with hardware systems, particularly in robotics, autonomous vehicles, or unmanned aircraft systems\nExperience working with perception and robotics frameworks (e.g., ROS 2, OpenCV, GStreamer)\nStrong understanding of coordinate frames, reference transformations, and spatial reasoning across sensor, body, and world frames\nAdditional Desired Qualifications\nExperience with robotics or autonomous systems software stacks (PX4, ROS2, MAVLink, etc.)\nExperience developing software for unmanned aircraft systems or aerospace platforms\nFamiliarity with edge computing platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson or Qualcomm systems\nExperience with event-based cameras or other advanced sensing modalities\nBackground in GPS-denied navigation, low-light perception, or contested environments\nExperience building or using simulation, replay, or evaluation pipelines for perception validation\nPhysical Requirements and Working Conditions\nMust be able to walk, stand, and navigate large indoor and outdoor facilities for extended periods of time.\nAbility to lift, carry, and move materials and equipment weighing up to 25 lbs on a regular basis.\nUse of personal protective equipment (PPE) may be required in designated areas or when performing specific tasks, in accordance with safety protocols and company policy.\nMay be required to climb ladders, stoop, kneel, or crouch during inspections, maintenance walk-throughs, or emergency response situations.\nRegular exposure to facility operations including noise, dust, temperature fluctuations, and industrial equipment.\nOccasional off-hours or weekend work required for emergency facility responses or projects as needed\nRequires frequent use of a computer and other standard office equipment for documentation, communication, and coordination tasks.\nBackground Check\nThis position will require successfully completing a post-offer background check. Qualified candidates with a criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal and state law.\nEEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure\nRed Cat Holdings provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Successful candidates for positions subject to ITAR/EAR restrictions must provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence and must not require sponsorship for export-restricted work authorization.\nE-Verify\nThe company participates E-Verify ensure eligibility for employment and compliance with Right to Work rules.\nCompensation: $132k – $183k, plus generous annual equity package and potential bonuses.","company":"Fw Acquisition","rawCompany":"fw acquisition","city":"Industry","state":"CA","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-08-03T13:03:09.761Z","occupations":[{"code":"15-1252.00","title":"Software Developers","slug":"software-developers"},{"code":"15-1299.08","title":"Computer Systems Engineers/Architects","slug":"computer-systems-engineers-architects"},{"code":"17-2011.00","title":"Aerospace Engineers","slug":"aerospace-engineers"}],"industries":[{"code":"336411","title":"Aircraft Manufacturing","slug":"aircraft-manufacturing"},{"code":"334511","title":"Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing","slug":"search-detection-navigation-guidance-aeronautical-and-nautical-system-and-instrument-manufacturing"},{"code":"513210","title":"Software Publishers","slug":"software-publishers"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Sr. Software Engineer, Perception","description":"Position Summary\nFlightWave Aerospace, a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to lead the development of perception systems powering the next generation of autonomous VTOL unmanned aircraft.\nThis role sits at the intersection of research and production—translating cutting-edge academic literature into robust, deployable systems. You will experiment with next-generation sensors and push the boundaries of perception to enable reliable autonomy in contested and dynamic environments.\nThe Senior Software Engineer will be responsible for designing, prototyping, and productionizing perception systems that are both resilient and rigorously testable. This includes building capabilities such as visual-inertial odometry (VIO) for GPS-denied navigation, object detection and classification for situational awareness, multi-object tracking for dynamic environments, and sensor fusion across modalities (e.g., cameras, IMUs, thermal sensors, and event-based cameras) to achieve robust state estimation and scene understanding under real-world constraints.\nFlightWave develops advanced unmanned aircraft systems for defense, public safety, and government security applications. Our platforms integrate high-performance edge compute with sophisticated robotics software to deliver autonomous mission execution in the most demanding environments.\nEssential Duties and Responsibilities\nPerception Leadership & System Architecture\nOwn the architecture and development of FlightWave’s perception stack, spanning sensing, state estimation, and scene understanding for autonomous VTOL systems\nLead the design and implementation of core perception capabilities, including visual-inertial odometry (VIO) for GPS-denied navigation, object detection and classification, multi-object tracking, and multi-sensor fusion across cameras, IMUs, thermal payloads, and emerging sensor modalities\nTranslate state-of-the-art research into production-ready systems, balancing performance, reliability, and computational constraints on edge hardware\nDefine perception system interfaces across autonomy, controls, and flight software to enable robust downstream decision-making\nDrive architectural decisions around real-time processing, synchronization, and data pipelines for high-rate sensor streams\nPerception Systems Development & Validation\nDesign and build perception systems that are robust to real-world challenges including low-light conditions, high dynamics, environmental noise, and adversarial or contested environments\nDevelop and maintain datasets, evaluation pipelines, and simulation environments to rigorously test perception performance across edge cases\nEstablish metrics and validation frameworks for perception accuracy, latency, and robustness across flight regimes\nLead efforts in flight test integration, debugging, and performance tuning of perception systems in real-world conditions\nCollaborate closely with hardware teams to evaluate and integrate next-generation sensors.\nOrganizational Development & Technical Mentorship\nHelp scale FlightWave’s perception and autonomy engineering capabilities as the company grows\nContribute to hiring and development of engineers with expertise in computer vision, state estimation, and sensor fusion\nPromote engineering best practices for building reliable, testable, and maintainable perception systems\nProgram Execution\nPartner with autonomy, controls, and systems engineering teams to deliver perception capabilities aligned with mission requirements\nEnsure perception systems support rapid iteration during flight testing while maintaining production-level reliability\nContribute to development workflows, testing strategies, and deployment pipelines that support both research experimentation and operational deployment\nExternal Collaboration & Integration\nWork with external partners, research institutions, and vendors to evaluate and integrate third-party perception technologies where appropriate\nEnsure externally developed perception components align with internal architecture, performance standards, and mission requirements\nCoordinate integration of external and internal systems to accelerate development while maintaining system integrity\nRequired Qualifications\nBachelor's degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field\n5+ years of professional experience developing perception, robotics, or autonomy systems\nDemonstrated experience taking perception systems from research or prototype to production deployment in real-world environments\nStrong foundation in computer vision, state estimation, and sensor fusion, with hands-on experience implementing systems such as visual-inertial odometry (VIO), SLAM, object detection, and multi-object tracking\nStrong proficiency in C++ and/or Python, with experience building real-time, performance-critical systems\nExperience working with multi-sensor systems (e.g., cameras, IMUs, thermal sensors), including calibration, synchronization, and data fusion\nExperience developing software tightly integrated with hardware systems, particularly in robotics, autonomous vehicles, or unmanned aircraft systems\nExperience working with perception and robotics frameworks (e.g., ROS 2, OpenCV, GStreamer)\nStrong understanding of coordinate frames, reference transformations, and spatial reasoning across sensor, body, and world frames\nAdditional Desired Qualifications\nExperience with robotics or autonomous systems software stacks (PX4, ROS2, MAVLink, etc.)\nExperience developing software for unmanned aircraft systems or aerospace platforms\nFamiliarity with edge computing platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson or Qualcomm systems\nExperience with event-based cameras or other advanced sensing modalities\nBackground in GPS-denied navigation, low-light perception, or contested environments\nExperience building or using simulation, replay, or evaluation pipelines for perception validation\nPhysical Requirements and Working Conditions\nMust be able to walk, stand, and navigate large indoor and outdoor facilities for extended periods of time.\nAbility to lift, carry, and move materials and equipment weighing up to 25 lbs on a regular basis.\nUse of personal protective equipment (PPE) may be required in designated areas or when performing specific tasks, in accordance with safety protocols and company policy.\nMay be required to climb ladders, stoop, kneel, or crouch during inspections, maintenance walk-throughs, or emergency response situations.\nRegular exposure to facility operations including noise, dust, temperature fluctuations, and industrial equipment.\nOccasional off-hours or weekend work required for emergency facility responses or projects as needed\nRequires frequent use of a computer and other standard office equipment for documentation, communication, and coordination tasks.\nBackground Check\nThis position will require successfully completing a post-offer background check. Qualified candidates with a criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal and state law.\nEEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure\nRed Cat Holdings provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Successful candidates for positions subject to ITAR/EAR restrictions must provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence and must not require sponsorship for export-restricted work authorization.\nE-Verify\nThe company participates E-Verify ensure eligibility for employment and compliance with Right to Work rules.\nCompensation: $132k – $183k, plus generous annual equity package and potential bonuses.","datePosted":"2026-08-03T13:03:09.761Z","dateModified":"2026-08-03T13:03:09.761Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Fw Acquisition","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Industry","addressRegion":"CA","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"06b7765ceaa27ebd13cfae50"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/06b7765ceaa27ebd13cfae50"}}