[Remote] Engineering Manager, Autonomy Planning & Behaviors

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Merlin is a venture backed aerospace startup focused on developing a non-human pilot for aviation. They are seeking an Engineering Manager for Autonomy Planning & Behaviors to lead the technical direction in decision making and behaviors for mission autonomy in airborne systems.

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical direction and deliver autonomous decision making, behavior execution, and motion planning capabilities for airborne systems
• Define the research, experiments, and development projects that support delivering mission autonomy capabilities
• Identify gaps and define staffing needs to develop and deliver decision making and behavior capabilities
• Ensure the decision making, behaviors, and motion planning technical plans align with short term R&D objectives, long term objectives, and the Merlin technology roadmap
• Lead architecture design and perform architecture and technology trade-off analysis, accounting for short term objectives and long term goals in decision making
• Step in to a hands-on software development role as needed
• Support simulation, integration, and flight test activities to validate real-world performance
• Collaborate across Merlin to develop novel systems to solve the toughest problems in aviation and autonomy

Skills

• Degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics Engineering, or a related subject
• Years of professional experience developing software for airborne autonomous systems
• Subject matter expert in one or more of the following: Mission management frameworks such as behavior trees, hierarchical task networks, state machines, petri nets
• Single- and multi-vehicle autonomy, resource allocation, and decision making algorithms
• Airborne contingency and emergency management
• Machine learning for complex decision making and behavior generation
• Years of experience providing tech leadership to a team of at least 4 engineers at different levels
• Proficiency in modern software development workflows and practices, including version control, pipelines, and unit testing, and peer review
• Experience with overall product development cycle, including design, testing, and troubleshooting at the system level as well as at the software component level
• Proficiency writing both Python and C++
• Familiarity with simulation software, especially aircraft simulation
• Experience with proposal writing and technical roadmap development
• Experience with ROS, DDS, or similar middleware for robotics/autonomy systems
• Experience with government open architectures such as A-GRA, OMS and FACE
• Experience developing and/or using modern avionics systems
• Experience with hardware and software integration and debugging
• Experience with flight testing (uncrewed or crewed aircraft)
• Awareness of aviation certification standards such as DO-178
• Pilot license and flight experience is a plus

Benefits

• Catered lunches featuring a rotating menu of delicious options
• An assortment of snacks to keep you fueled throughout the day
• A selection of beverages, including coffee, tea, and other drinks, to keep you refreshed
• Health, dental, life, unlimited vacation, and 401k with match
• Work/life integration
• Professional development

Company Overview