Defense Autonomy Engineer

About Applied Intuition

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy.

Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.;
San Diego;
Ft. Walton Beach, Florida;
Ann Arbor, Michigan;
London;
Stuttgart;
Munich;
Stockholm;
Bangalore;
Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at

As an Autonomy Engineer, you will be pivotal in developing collaborative autonomy behaviors for large teams of heterogeneous autonomous vehicles, across different domains (e.g., surface, air), with different sensor suites (e.g., camera, radar) that work together to accomplish complex mission vignettes. Your team will continuously add capability and demonstrate the solution to customers in real‑world scenarios on a variety of HW platforms.

Your responsibility will primarily be designing and developing multi‑agent multi‑domain behavioral autonomy algorithms, but you will work with the team to make the entire system successful.

• Adapt and develop cutting edge, modular, and agile autonomy capabilities in the fields of optimization, persistent search, and coordinated behaviors, applicable to a diverse set of Defense problems.
• Integrate tactical autonomy solutions onto hardware platforms, interface sensors, and test and validate autonomous behaviors, including on‑site demonstrations for software field testing and evaluation exercises with the defense customers.
• Design, test, and ultimately implement software within a component‑based architecture, including occasionally integrating externally developed software capabilities into the system.
• Deploy containerized autonomy solutions to embedded Linux devices, leveraging computer‑in‑the‑loop testing and profiling, and efficiently collecting performance data.
• Troubleshoot and debug complex issues related to behavioral autonomy and system performance, ensuring robust and reliable operation.
• Contribute novel engineering ideas, algorithms and concepts for new and existing research and development projects.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams, domain experts, prior DoD warfighters, and program managers to build software solutions for military missions.
• Effectively communicate solutions to a diverse team of engineers, program managers, executives, and sponsors.

• MS or PhD in Robotic Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Optimization, or equivalent OR 2+ years of relevant experience designing multi‑agent autonomy.
• Understanding of Multi‑Agent Algorithms including Ant‑Colony Optimization, Swarm Particle Optimization, Stigmergy, and Wolf Pack Algorithm.
• Experience with Swarm or Multi‑agent Systems and Optimization.
• Deep understanding of behavior logic frameworks (state machines, behavior trees, hierarchical task networks).
• Experience with modern C++ development (2011, 2017, 2020, smart pointers, etc.), CMAKE, Python and Bash.

• Must be willing to travel as projects requires, usually for SW/HW integration and/or demonstrations; estimated average travel is every 1-2 months for 2-5 days (10‑20%).
• Travel‑adverse candidates are encouraged to inquire about relocation assistance to office in Ann Arbor, MI or San Diego, CA.

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must hold or be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

• Passion for solving complex problems with little supervision in a fast‑paced environment.
• Ability to balance multiple priorities in a fast‑paced, highly collaborative, frequently changing, and sometimes ambiguous environment.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and documentation skills with…