Payload Autonomy Engineer

About Ocean Aero:

Ocean Aero is an award-winning US company that has created the world’s first and only environmentally powered Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicle (AUSV.) Ocean Aero’s autonomous marine robot, the Triton, operates exclusively on wind and solar energy and performs long endurance missions on the ocean surface with the ability to dive below the waves for underwater operations. The Triton uses a complex array of custom-built sensors, marinized electronics and software systems to operate, sense and communicate in the environment.

Ocean Aero has a collaborative culture with plenty of opportunities for growth and ownership, and comprehensive benefits.

Role Description:

The Payload Autonomy Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, testing, and documenting Ocean Aero's payload autonomy and payload data product software. The role will focus on sensor data ingest, data processing, SLAM processing, user interfaces, and product generation that turn payload sensor outputs into actionable mission deliverables. The Payload Autonomy Engineer will be working alongside a team of creative engineers with a diverse set of backgrounds and skills. This role will report to the Chief Technology Officer.

Role Responsibilities:

• Design Payload Autonomy for sensor-driven payload operations across surface and subsurface missions
• Build data processing tools for payload sensor streams, vehicle telemetry, metadata, and mission context
• Develop sensor data ingestion, formatting, synchronization, validation, and quality-control workflows
• Implement SLAM processing, mapping, localization, feature extraction, and sensor fusion capabilities
• Generate customer-facing payload products, including maps, mosaics, reports, visualizations, alerts, and analytical outputs
• Build user interface workflows for payload configuration, monitoring, review, annotation, and product delivery
• Validate payload autonomy behavior in simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, lab, and field environments
• Collaborate across software, autonomy, payload, vehicle systems, and operations teams on build/test demonstrations
• Create payload processing metrics, improve product quality, and maintain technical documentation

Role Requirements:

• B.S. from an accredited university, such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics or Physics
• Demonstrated 3 years’ experience in software development/engineering
• Strong Python and C skills on Linux-based operating systems and command-line workflows
• Experience processing sensor data from robotic systems, including time-series, imagery, video, sonar/acoustic, geospatial, or navigation data
• Experience building data-processing pipelines for calibration, synchronization, filtering, validation, metadata, and product generation
• Experience with SLAM processing, mapping/localization, sensor fusion, robotics perception, or related autonomy algorithms
• Experience designing user interfaces, dashboards, visualization tools, or operator workflows for technical users
• Excellent cross-department communication skills
• Ability to think independently about creative solutions to design problems
• Experience with sailing a plus
• Team player, with excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills
• Ability to travel occasionally, as needed
• US Citizenship required
• Ability to obtain and maintain a US Department of Defense (DoD) Security Clearance
• Possess a valid Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC) or successfully pass the requirements to obtain one
• Ability to pass drug screen, background check, and motor vehicle screening

Role Preferences:

• Experience with payload sensors and robotic sensor stacks, including sonar, EO/IR imagery, cameras, LiDAR, acoustic systems, GNSS/INS, or other navigation sensors
• Experience with SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, factor graphs, loop closure, 3D reconstruction, point clouds, or probabilistic sensor fusion
• Experience building geospatial, oceanographic, bathymetric, or mission-data products for customer-facing deliverables
• Experience with user interface development, visualization, dashboards, or operator tools for reviewing sensor data and generated products
• Experience with the marine environment and systems, including ROVs, UUVs, USVs, or sail boats is a definite plus; general interest in robotics

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible schedule
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Referral program
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Application Question(s):

• This position is 100% on-site and is not eligible for remote or hybrid work. Are you able to work on-site full-time?

Work Location: In person