Autonomy Software Engineer

Merlin is a venture backed aerospace startup building a non-human pilot to enable both reduced crew and uncrewed flight. They are seeking a versatile software engineer to develop software for aircraft autonomy systems, contributing to both lower level embedded systems and higher level autonomy functions. The role involves collaborating with domain leads and participating in simulation and flight test activities to validate the autonomy software.

Responsibilities:

• Develop software across the stack of an aircraft autonomy system, contributing to lower level embedded systems and higher level autonomy function areas as needed
• Implement and integrate algorithms for perception, reasoning, decision making, planning, and execution in support of autonomous airborne operations
• Collaborate with domain leads to understand architecture, requirements, and design intent for specific capabilities
• Contribute to simulation, integration, and flight test activities to validate autonomy software in relevant environments
• Write, test, document and review code according to Merlin’s development standards
• Collaborate across Merlin to develop novel, certifiable systems to solve the toughest problems in aviation and autonomy

Requirements:

• Degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, robotics, or a related field
• BS and 1+ or MS and 2+ years of experience developing software for robotic or autonomous systems
• Experience with Linux and open-source development tools
• Experience with overall product development cycle, including design, testing, and troubleshooting at the system level as well as at the software component level
• Experience with both Python and C++
• Experience with ROS, DDS or similar robotics middleware
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to learn and contribute across different technical domains
• Experience developing autonomy software for aircraft, drones, or other high-integrity systems
• Experience with state machines, behavior trees, or task planning algorithms
• Experience with route, path and trajectory planning
• Experience with perception systems, sensor fusion, or world modeling concepts
• Experience with multi-agent collaboration and human-machine interfaces
• Experience with system integration, simulation, or flight testing of autonomous platforms
• Experience with hardware and software integration and debugging
• Pilot license and flight experience is a plus