Senior AI Engineer - Applied Scientist

Overview

Forterra is a leading provider of autonomous systems for ground-based movement in the working world. Amongst some of the earliest innovators in the field of driverless technology, Forterra is focused on building systems that protect front-line soldiers and enable civilian workers in our industrial base. Forterra is the go-to provider of ground autonomy solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense, which harnesses the technology for asymmetric warfare in critical conditions.

We are seeking a Senior/Staff AI Engineer with deep expertise in generative modeling and multimodal AI systems. In this role, you will design and implement advanced models for understanding complex agent interactions in dynamic environments. You ll work on extending these capabilities toward vision-language models and action-aware systems, collaborating closely with research and engineering teams to bridge foundational representation learning with real-world applications.

• Develop neural network architectures for modeling sequential agent interactions using generative modeling approaches
• Implement Transformer-based models that encode agent and contextual features with attention mechanisms for capturing interactions
• Research and integrate goal-conditioned models that leverage structured representations before generating complete sequences
• Prototype and optimize learning models into lightweight modules suitable for real-time inference
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of models into the broader AI stack
• Benchmark and visualize model performance using real-world and simulated datasets
• Optimize models for low-latency inference and interpretability of output distributions

• Deep understanding of probabilistic generative models for sequential forecasting tasks
• Strong experience with Transformers and graph-based modeling for complex relational data
• Familiarity with multimodal sensor processing and representation learning
• Proven ability to work with uncertainty quantification and latent variable inference
• Experience implementing models in PyTorch/Tensor Flow and deploying them in production environments
• M.S. or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or related field
• 3+ years of experience with sequential modeling, generative architectures, or forecasting systems
• Strong foundation in applied deep learning, especially variational inference and attention mechanisms
• Solid software engineering background with emphasis on clean, modular, and optimized implementations

• Publications or project experience in forecasting, agent modeling, or scene understanding
• Familiarity with graph-based or vectorized representations of structured environments
• Experience with diffusion model optimization or goal-conditioned decoding
• Contributions to open-source frameworks related to generative modeling or sequential forecasting
• Interest in bridging high-fidelity modeling with real-time applications

US Salary Range: $145,000—$185,000

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterra  overall compensation package.

In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

• Premium Healthcare Benefits:
  Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.

This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances: .

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel practices. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national…