Machine Learning / Perception Engineer

Company Background:

Swarmbotics AI is pushing the frontier of advanced machine learning models and architectures on edge devices for swarms of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). We see an urgent need for low-cost intelligent autonomous swarm UGV systems in the defense space. Our primary product is a defense application of swarm UGVs, collectively termed - Attritable, Networked, Tactical Swarm (ANTS). Each UGV in ANTS is an independently-tasked, attritable robot designed for on-demand and autonomous mobility. When operating as a swarm, ANTS is capable of executing advanced and coordinated high-level capabilities across multiple domains.

Stephen Houghton and Drew Watson are the Founders and have decades of experience in self-driving cars and trucks, humanoids, and UAVs with experience from NASA, JPL, Cruise, Embark, McKinsey, Amazon, and the CIA.

Position description: 

Swarmbotics AI is seeking a highly skilled Machine Learning / Perception Engineer to design, develop, implement, and own cutting-edge off-road, terrain-aware navigation systems for autonomous DoD ground vehicles. This engineer will play a pivotal role in designing and implementing machine learning-based perception systems that enable our autonomous vehicles to navigate complex and unstructured off-road environments. This engineer will work closely with company leadership to align autonomous navigation capabilities with the Swarmbotics AI product roadmap.

What you’ll do:

• Design, implement, train, and test multiple deep learning models including:
  • Deep computer vision models
  • Dense disparity prediction models
  • Reinforcement learning models
  • Vision Language Action (VLA) models
  • Object detection and panoptic segmentation models
• Optimize models to run real-time on edge devices (Jetson Orin) through model quantization and distillation
• Deploy trained models in the field
• Write robust Python, PyTorch, and C++ code
• Work collaboratively across multiple teams such as SLAM/localization, navigation, tracking, and swarm intelligence

Required qualifications:

• Minimum 2 years industry experience in ML related field
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, math, or related field
• Strong mathematical foundation of neural networks, transformers, convolutional networks, and statistics
• Python, PyTorch, C++, ROS, ONNX, TensorRT
• Familiarity with modern ML / computer vision tools such as OpenCV, Numpy, and Pillow
• Strong organization and communication skills to work well across teams in a fast-paced startup environment
• Comfort working in the high-paced, fluid environment of a tech startup
• Excitement about contributing to the defense of the United States and its allies
• Must be eligible to work on export-controlled projects.
• Ability to relocate to Phoenix, AZ area

Nice to have qualifications:

• Masters or PhD in computer science, math, engineering, or related field
• Prior robotics experience or autonomous driving background
• Experience with owning an entire data to production model pipeline
• Academic publications in related fields