Senior Software Engineer - Robotics

About Applied Intuition Defence

Applied Intuition UK is a software and infrastructure supplier that accelerates the deployment of next-generation autonomous capabilities to the warfighter across air, land, sea, and space. A subsidiary of Applied Intuition, we deliver dual-use solutions to national security customers that build upon several years of product development and experience from commercial autonomy programs. Based in London, our seasoned defence team hails from Palantir, Anduril, SpaceX, Google, Lockheed Martin, and the UK and US Armed Services. Learn more at appliedintuitiondefense.com .

About the role As a Robot Software Engineer, your day-to-day life will vary. Some days you might find yourself out in the field, integrating hardware and software directly onto vehicle platforms and pushing autonomy algorithms through live testing. Other days you'll be back in the office, deep in SIL and HIL environments, working through the complex autonomy and vehicle intelligence systems that span both hardware and software domains. And some days you'll be on-site with a customer, demoing what you built and troubleshooting in real time as they put it to the test. Every day is different, and each one moves the work forward. As a senior member of the team, you'll also help shape how the team tackles these problems, setting technical direction, raising the bar on integration practices, and mentoring engineers as they grow into the role.

Along the way, you'll touch whatever it takes to make the platform work, such as mission behaviours development, platform integration, navigation, and everything in between. You'll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to deliver robust, scalable autonomy solutions for defense customers, drawing on computer networking, code integration, and a genuine passion for robotics. You'll build, test, and deploy your software, and then watch it actually fly.

At Applied Intuition you will:

Lead the technical design and architecture of autonomy solutions across one or more platforms, making key trade-off decisions independently

Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior and mid-level engineers, reviewing designs and code to maintain high engineering standards

Develop and adapt mission behaviour, navigation, and decision-making logic to meet the needs of diverse defense platforms and missions

Design and implement autonomy capabilities that are modular and reusable across different vehicle types and programs

Integrate and deploy autonomy solutions onto embedded Linux and other hardware platforms, including interfacing with sensors and collecting data

Conduct system-level setup, testing, and validation, including software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) evaluations

Support live flight test of autonomy software on Group 1-5 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Troubleshoot complex software and integration issues to ensure high reliability and performance across the stack

Collaborate with 3rd party UAS vendors and cross-functional teams to bring autonomy software to life on OEM and Applied hardware alike

Who we’re looking for:

BS or MS in Robotics, Computer Science, or related engineering field

6+ years of hands-on experience working with robotic systems (hardware, software, and integration)

Demonstrated experience leading technical design decisions on complex, ambiguous autonomy problems with minimal guidance

Experience developing autonomy behavior and decision-making logic (e.g., behavior trees, state machines) and/or navigation algorithms for robotic or autonomous systems

Experience with modern C++

Experience integrating autonomy/robotics products with Pixhawk autopilots (ArduPilot and/or PX4)

Experience integrating with communication busses & protocols: UART/RS232/RS422/RS485, SPI/QSPI, I2C, Ethernet

Experience developing in Docker, containerized deployment environments, and using Linux-based operating systems (e.g., RHEL, Ubuntu)

Familiarity with real-time, edge computing, and safety-critical systems operating in software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), test & operational environments

Excellent communication skills and a customer-oriented project delivery mindset

Travel Requirements:

General willingness to travel for company business between our offices, as well as to customer sites

Security Requirements:

Must have ability to hold UK Security Clearance (current or previous preferred)

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.

FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request. If you require an accommodation please contact people@applied.co . We will work with you!