Explore cutting-edge Mission Autonomy - Situational Awareness Lead jobs, a pivotal senior role at the forefront of aerospace robotics and artificial intelligence. Professionals in this capacity are responsible for architecting and delivering the core perception and understanding systems for autonomous vehicles, primarily in aviation and aerospace domains. They define the technical vision and roadmap for enabling machines to perceive, interpret, and predict the dynamics of complex operational environments, a critical function for safe and effective uncrewed or reduced-crew operations. The core mission involves leading the development of sophisticated situational awareness (SA) capabilities. This typically encompasses defining research initiatives and development projects that leverage diverse sensor suites—such as visual cameras, infrared, radar, LiDAR, and navigational data—and fusing this information into a coherent, real-time world model. The Lead is accountable for the entire SA stack, from low-level sensor processing and state estimation using techniques like Kalman filtering, to high-level perception tasks like object detection, classification, and intent prediction. A key responsibility is designing the system architecture and conducting rigorous trade-off analyses to balance immediate R&D goals with long-term scalability and performance. Leadership is a fundamental aspect of these jobs. Individuals in this role provide technical direction and mentorship to a team of engineers specializing in perception, sensor fusion, and world modeling. They identify capability gaps, define staffing needs, and ensure the team's output aligns with overarching product and technology roadmaps. While strategic, the role often requires hands-on contribution, including software development, code reviews, and troubleshooting complex system-level integration issues. Typical requirements for these high-level positions include an advanced degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field, coupled with substantial professional experience developing software for autonomous systems. Expertise in several technical areas is expected: multiple sensor modalities, probabilistic estimation, computer vision, and multi-sensor fusion. Proficiency in programming languages like C++ and Python is standard, as is experience with modern software development practices and simulation tools. Successful candidates demonstrate a proven track record of technical leadership, guiding teams through the full product development lifecycle from design and simulation to real-world flight test validation. For those passionate about solving the toughest challenges in autonomy, Mission Autonomy - Situational Awareness Lead jobs offer a unique opportunity to shape the future of intelligent flight systems.
