Autonomy and Perception Engineer

About PowerusPowerus is building a next-generation American autonomous systems platform designed to move, protect, and sustain critical assets in high-consequence environments. The company combines advanced autonomy, manufacturing capability, operational expertise, and strategic acquisitions to support defense, national security, critical infrastructure, and commercial operations globally.MissionOur mission is to deliver resilient autonomous technologies that strengthen national security, improve operational safety, and expand the capabilities of organizations operating in complex environments.Why Join PowerusAutonomy is what separates an aircraft that needs a pilot from one that completes a mission when the link drops and GPS is denied. For Powerus that capability is the product, not a feature of it.This role works at that edge. You will build perception and decision-making that has to hold up in contested, degraded, real-world conditions rather than in a benchmark.Position OverviewPowerus is seeking an Autonomy & Perception Engineer to develop the perception, navigation, and decision-making software running on our aircraft. You will work on visual navigation, object detection and tracking, sensor fusion, and autonomous behaviours, taking algorithms from prototype through on-vehicle deployment and flight validation. You will work on compute-constrained edge hardware, where efficiency is a design requirement.Key ResponsibilitiesDevelop perception algorithms for detection, tracking, and scene understanding from onboard sensorsBuild visual and inertial navigation capability for GPS-denied and degraded environmentsImplement sensor fusion across cameras, IMU, and other onboard sensingOptimise models and algorithms for real-time performance on constrained edge computeTake capability from simulation through hardware-in-the-loop to flight validationAnalyse flight logs and field data to diagnose and improve autonomy performanceBuild datasets, evaluation harnesses, and regression testing for autonomy behaviourPartner with GNC and embedded teams at the boundaries between perception and controlQualificationsMust be located in the United States, within commuting distance of Rock Hill, SCExperience developing perception, computer vision, or autonomy software for physical systemsStrong proficiency in C++ and PythonWorking knowledge of computer vision fundamentals and modern deep learning practiceExperience deploying algorithms to embedded or edge compute platformsComfort working with real sensor data and its imperfectionsU.S. Person status required (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)); this role involves access to ITAR- and EAR-controlled technical dataPreferred QualificationsExperience with UAV, robotics, or autonomous vehicle systemsFamiliarity with visual-inertial odometry, SLAM, or GPS-denied navigationExperience with model optimisation for edge deployment such as TensorRT or quantisationExposure to contested or degraded operating environmentsROS or comparable robotics middleware experienceWhat We Look ForWe are looking for engineers who trust flight data over benchmarks. Perception that works on a dataset and fails over a field is the central failure mode in this discipline, and the people who do well here are the ones who go to the test site. You should be rigorous about evaluation and honest about uncertainty.Equal Opportunity StatementPowerus is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and mission-driven workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.