Sr. Systems Performance Engineer

Who We Are:Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones.We're a small team of engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America's directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system.Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing.That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable.In addition to our San Francisco lab, we’ve opened a Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range.The Role and Your Impact:You'll own the architecture and performance of our full software stack as the Sr. Systems Performance Software Engineer.Our system is a stack of complex subsystems working in concert: sensing, computer vision, ML inference, controls, fire control, C2, power, mechanical actuation. Every microsecond of latency is a drone that gets closer. Every inefficient kernel is a target that gets away. Your job is to make sure the whole stack, not any one piece, runs as fast and as deterministically as physics allows.The critical gap we're hiring for is real-time systems performance architecture at the hardware boundary. You need to understand how software execution translates into physical system behavior; how latency accumulates across CPU, GPU, memory, and I/O; how bandwidth limits affect sensor pipelines; and how architectural decisions upstream constrain what's achievable downstream. We need an engineer who thinks in terms of microseconds, memory bandwidth, cache behavior, and determinism, and who can make architectural calls that the rest of the team builds against.This is a senior IC role with subteam lead scope. You'll set direction on kernel-level optimization, driver work, and latency performance across fire control and C2. You won't own simulators or model orchestration. You will own whether the platform meets its latency budget.What You'll Own:Architecture, performance and latency budget of the full platform, from sensing through actuationKernel-level and driver-level coding across the stackProfile and eliminate latency across CPU, GPU, memory, and I/O boundariesDevelop and optimize CUDA kernels for high-throughput, low-latency executionTune memory access patterns (global, shared, unified) for bandwidth efficiencyReal-time architecture decisions across fire control and C2High-bandwidth sensor data ingestion and pipeline designTechnical direction and mentorship for a subteam of engineers working in the optimization and realtime spaceIdentify development priorities by directly analyzing technical and physical system limitations in the fieldAuthor architecture documentation and standards the rest of the engineering team builds againstWhat We're Looking For:4+ years in real-time systems or robotics software engineering with real hardwareExpert-level modern C++ (C++17/20)Driver-level and kernel-level coding experienceCUDA kernel optimization for throughput and latencyDeep understanding of GPU memory models (global, shared, unified memory)Real-time pipeline architecture, not just real-time codeARM + Linux systems development (cross-compiling, profiling, kernel-level awareness)Performance optimization across CPU/GPU boundariesShared memory and lock-free architecture designHigh-throughput peripheral data ingestion (USB, PCIe, Ethernet)Multithreaded systems and concurrency optimizationNot a fit if: Your experience is purely web/cloud software, ML research that never deployed to hardware, or you primarily work in managed languages. We need someone who's fought real-time latency, sensor noise, and mechanical backlash at the kernel level.Nice-to-Haves:Jetson platform experienceDMA and zero-copy pipeline designVideo pipeline experience (OpenCV, GStreamer, Vimba/Pylon)CoaXPress, USB3 Vision, or high-speed camera systemsLinux kernel contributions or driver-level experiencePrior experience leading a small technical subteam or owning architecture for a production systemEducation:BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field. PhD a plus but not required.How You Operate:Extreme bias for action. You'd rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a monthRigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own systems before the field doesComfortable with ambiguity and fast, constantly iterating in a startup environmentYour brain only releases dopamine when you're buildingYou debug from first principles, not Stack OverflowClear communicator across mechanical, electrical, optical, and ML teamsSelf-directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being toldCapable of setting technical direction for other engineers without losing the thread on your own workWhy Join Aurelius Systems:Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.Career velocity is real. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact.Work on a problem that actually matters. Small cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer — infinite magazine, near zero cost per shot, scalable to every base, border, facility, and truck.Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built.How We Work:Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up — nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show.Benefits:Competitive salary and equityUnited Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverageFlexible 18 days PTO plus 5 sick daysTravel to field test events and range daysCovered daily lunches and office snacks and drinksE-bike and scooter stipend up to $500Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your workExport Control Notice:This role requires access to export-controlled information or items that require U.S. Person status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a U.S. Person: (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).