The Lead Research Engineer is a key technical contributor and small engineering team lead on multiple programs aligned with division and/or group objectives. Mission autonomy is the ability for autonomous agents or teams to conduct strategic decision-making and coordinated actions toward longer-term operational objectives through persistent world modeling, predictive simulation, and adaptive planning under uncertainty and adversarial conditions.
nEssential Functions
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Lead a team to develop innovative solutions to address technical challenges derived from customer requirements.
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Serve as a subject matter expert in emerging mission autonomy technologies.
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Support or lead marketing and proposal efforts in mission autonomy.
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Support or lead managing and tasking team to achieve program milestones.
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Take primary responsibility for prime and customer-facing interactions.
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Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in mission autonomy and other areas relevant to Scientific Systems.
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Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to advance R&D roadmaps.
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The role does require the ability to sit or stand at a desk and work on a computer for prolonged periods of time.
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This role may require occasional travel when necessary.
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May require the ability to push/pull/lift up to 15 pounds.
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Must be able to obtain and maintain a US DOD Security Clearance.
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Requirements
nasic Qualifications
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Bachelor of Science degree in Math, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Physical Science, Operations Research, Data Science, or equivalent experience and 7+ years of progressive autonomy technologies experience including team leadership in a related industry, a Master degree and 5+ years of related engineering experience, or a Ph.D. degree and 2+ years working in a related engineering role.
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Experience working in a team leadership role in a related industry.
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Proven track record of leading proposals and winning contracts.
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Proven track record of leading programs in the principal investigator role or similar experience.
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Experience in building and integrating software for edge platforms.
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Experience with C/C++, Python, and/or project-specific required languages. (e.g. Java, Rust, etc.)
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Experience assisting with non-technical programmatic priorities as needed, including staff planning, budget estimation and tracking, and customer-facing interactions.
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Background in robotics technologies related to motion planning, behavior modeling, or decision-making and their accompanying algorithms.
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Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS) for validation, verification, and training.
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Preferred Qualifications
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M.S. or Ph.D. degrees
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Familiar with AI/ML standard libraries and tools.
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Experience working in Linux-based development environments.
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Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
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Experience working on both classical autonomy and machine learning and the combination of the two, blending rule-based systems with learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning and generative methods to achieve resilient, adaptive behavior.
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Experience developing software modules that combine planning, decision-making, and behavior execution in dynamic, adversarial environments.
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Experience implementing and testing behavior architectures such as multi-agent collaboration, target engagement, payload management, reconnaissance, and engagement in adversarial scenarios.
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Ability to analyze mission logs to diagnose failures and optimize models for iterative development.
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Excellent oral and written communication skills including technical writing skills.
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Ability to identify and creatively solve complex problems
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Benefits
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Salary: $150,000 - $196,000 (Depends on Experience)
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Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
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Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
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Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
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Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
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Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
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Short Term & Long Term Disability
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Training & Development
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Hybrid Work Schedule
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Free Food & Snacks
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Wellness Resources
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Summer 9/80 work schedule
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