Autonomy Technical Lead

Position Overview:

As the remote operations and Autonomy Technical Lead you will be a senior individual contributor on the maritime autonomy team within Ghostworks. In this role, you will provide cross-functional technical expertise for the MRLN program, oversee the development of the base architecture, systems design, and integration of the autonomy stack. You will work in concert with other senior members of the engineering, design and production teams to facilitate rapid integration within existing Ghostworks Marine vessel platforms. You will define the technical vision and multi-quarter roadmap for the autonomy division, driving design quality from architecture through validation, to release reliable, scalable autonomy capabilities that meet company goals.

What you'll be doing:

• Shape the technical vision by owning multi-quarter roadmap designs for autonomy.
• Help architect and implement end-to-end system designs and integration across perception, prediction, planning, and remote piloting controls, ensuring deliverables meet performance targets, and safety constraints.
• Partner with Design, Engineering, Safety and Production to generate requirements.
• Lead technical sprints and program reviews to drive adoption of software engineering best practices across the team and the larger organization.
• Establish verification and validation strategies for the stacks, including simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and on-water testing validation gates.
• Lead root-cause investigations for complex issues, using data-driven test and evaluation.
• Guide other developers through system design and implementation focusing on safety, comfort, and compute efficiency.
• Mentor junior team members, raising the bar on technical judgment, design quality, and execution discipline.
• Develop and oversee top-tier software engineers within a dynamic, fast-paced, and inclusive setting

Qualifications:

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, or equivalent experience
• A demonstrated track record of building perceptive software and/or autonomy systems
• Broad exposure to the end-to-end autonomy stack, from perception through controls
• Deep expertise in Controls, Planning, or Perception system design
• Familiarity with modern AI/ML approaches, including diffusion and auto-regression
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Self-motivation and passion to lead, encourage best practices, and constantly improve
• Extensive background with C++/Python in a large, distributed development environment
• Passion for self-driving technology and its potential impact on the world

Preferences:

• A background in robotics, ROS, or the AV/ADAS industry
• Experience building and managing engineering teams
• Experience developing software under significant latency and performance constraints
• Experience developing or working with safety-critical code