General Robotics/Autonomy Engineer

Job Description

About Ocean Aero:

Ocean Aero is an award-winning US company that has created the world’s first and only environmentally powered Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicle (AUSV). Ocean Aero’s autonomous marine robot, the Triton, operates exclusively on wind and solar energy and performs long endurance missions on the ocean surface with the ability to dive below the waves for underwater operations. The Triton uses a complex array of custom-built sensors, marinized electronics and software systems to operate, sense and communicate in the environment.

Ocean Aero has a collaborative culture with plenty of opportunities for growth and ownership, and comprehensive benefits.

Role Description:

The General Robotics/Autonomy Engineer will be responsible for the design, development, integration, and documentation of autonomy software for Ocean Aero's autonomous maritime systems. The role will be varied and diverse in terms of technologies and methodologies in-use, involving software development, simulation and modeling, system integration, and technical analysis of vehicle behavior across normal and degraded operating conditions. The General Robotics/Autonomy Engineer will be working alongside a team of creative engineers with a diverse set of backgrounds and skills. This role will report to the Software Engineer Lead.

Role Responsibilities:

• Integrate with the autonomy and software engineering teams and be involved in all aspects of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
• Design, develop, test, and document autonomy software for mission planning, vehicle behaviors, navigation, controls integration, and system health management
• Develop and maintain simulation and modeling tools that support vehicle dynamics, environmental conditions, mission scenarios, sensor and actuator behavior, and payload integration
• Build redundancy, resilience, and fault tolerance into autonomous behaviors, mission execution logic, communications, power management, and system recovery paths
• Develop fault detection, isolation, and recovery strategies and support graceful degradation and failsafe vehicle behaviors for long-duration missions
• Be responsible for testing and troubleshooting in simulation, hardware-in-the-loop environments, and in the field
• Create and analyze metrics, logs, and post-mission data for debugging, monitoring, reliability improvement, and managing technical risk
• Collaborate across multiple teams to plan, build, test and demonstrate the technology
• Critical analysis and technical documentation

Role Requirements:

• B.S. from an accredited university, such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics or Physics
• Broad technical experience with robotics/autonomy software systems, vehicle autonomy architectures, and system integration
• Experience developing production-quality software in Python, C++, or similar languages on Linux, including automated tests, version control, and debugging in complex systems
• Experience with simulation and modeling for robotic or vehicle systems, including HIL/SIL testing, sensor and actuator models, vehicle dynamics, or mission/environment modeling
• Experience designing redundant, resilient, and fault-tolerant software or systems, including health monitoring, failover logic, watchdogs, graceful degradation, or recovery strategies
• Excellent cross-department communication skills
• Ability to think independently about creative solutions to design problems
• Experience with sailing a plus
• Team player, with excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills
• Ability to travel occasionally, as needed
• US Citizenship required
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Security Clearance
• Maintain a valid driver license and personal vehicle insurance
• Possess a valid Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC) or successfully pass the requirements to obtain one
• Ability to pass drug screen, background check, and motor vehicle screening

Role Preferences:

• Experience in communications and network protocols
• Experience with robotic middleware, simulation tools, embedded systems, mission-management software, controls integration, perception, localization, or planning
• Experience with the marine environment and systems, including ROVs, UUVs, USVs or sail boats is a definite plus
• Ability to work in a constantly changing environment and have a proven ability to manage concurrent activities effectively
• General interest in robotics