Computer Vision Engineer – Autonomy & Perception

Pivotal is the leader in the emerging market of electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. We design, develop, and manufacture light eVTOL aircraft and are renowned for the Black Fly aircraft the world's first light eVTOL to fly manned missions and enter the consumer market.

Efficient, compact, and simple, Pivotal aircraft are designed for a wide range of consumer, public service, and defense applications. Our distinctive tilt‑aircraft architecture and scalable platform have been flying for over 10 years. Last year we announced our next‑generation aircraft, the Helix, which is rapidly progressing toward general release and scalable production in 2026.

Mobility is one of the most highly‑valued areas of modern technology investments. This is the right company, in the right space, the right strategy, at the right time. If you are ready for adventure, we invite you to join our amazing team and grow with us.

The Autonomy team at Pivotal develops advanced autonomy capabilities for our aircraft, enabling safe, precise, and reliable mission execution from takeoff to landing. We are seeking a Computer Vision Engineer to support the development of next‑generation perception systems for our autonomous aerial platforms, including the Helix family of systems.

In this role, you will collaborate with autonomy, guidance, navigation and control (GNC), flight software, and AI engineers to design, implement, and deploy computer vision algorithms that operate effectively in dynamic, real‑world environments. You will work across object detection, tracking, visual localization, scene understanding, sensor fusion, and perception‑driven autonomy to enable robust autonomous operations in challenging mission scenarios.

The ideal candidate combines strong computer vision fundamentals with practical experience deploying perception systems on robotic or autonomous platforms. You will play a key role in developing vision capabilities that support navigation, obstacle avoidance, target tracking, and mission autonomy while contributing to the broader autonomy stack deployed on operational aircraft.

• Perception & Computer Vision:
  Design and develop perception systems for autonomous aerial platforms operating in GPS‑denied and contested environments; implement object detection, classification, segmentation, and tracking algorithms using RGB, thermal, and multimodal sensor data; develop visual perception pipelines for obstacle detection, collision avoidance, and situational awareness; build scene understanding capabilities to support autonomous navigation and mission execution; evaluate and integrate state‑of‑the‑art computer vision and AI techniques into operational systems.
• Visual Navigation & Localization:
  Develop visual‑inertial odometry, localization, and mapping algorithms; implement vision‑based navigation solutions for degraded and GPS‑denied environments; support SLAM and feature‑based localization systems; design robust estimation methods that fuse camera, IMU, GPS, lidar, and radar data; improve navigation performance through sensor fusion and environmental awareness.
• Machine Learning & AI:
  Develop, train, and deploy deep learning models for onboard perception; create data processing, labeling, augmentation, and evaluation pipelines; optimize neural networks for real‑time inference on embedded computing platforms; analyze model performance and improve robustness across operational conditions; support deployment of perception models on edge AI hardware.
• Camera Systems & Sensor Integration:
  Integrate and evaluate diverse imaging systems including RGB, stereo, fisheye, thermal, and event‑based cameras; develop camera calibration workflows and sensor characterization procedures; support multi‑camera synchronization and calibration efforts; improve image quality, calibration accuracy, and perception system reliability; collaborate with hardware teams to evaluate and integrate emerging sensor technologies.
• Testing & Validation:
  Develop simulation and testing frameworks for perception algorithms; support software‑in‑the‑loop, hardware‑in‑the‑loop, and flight testing activities; analyze flight data to…