Perception Simulation Engineer II/III

Accountabilities

The Perception Simulation Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, and optimizing simulation technologies that enable advanced perception software testing and validation. The role focuses on creating realistic virtual sensor environments, integrating simulation data pipelines, and ensuring that autonomous systems can be evaluated accurately before deployment.

• Develop high-fidelity RGB and thermal (IR) camera simulations in Unreal Engine, including realistic sensor behavior, performance characteristics, and environmental effects.
• Model camera specifications such as field of view, resolution, frame rate, thermal response, noise, artifacts, motion blur, and sensor failure scenarios.
• Build and maintain ROS 2 integrations to publish simulated camera imagery and sensor data using shared software interfaces.
• Support perception and target state estimation workflows by providing simulated sensor streams, ground-truth labels, and evaluation data.
• Create synthetic data generation pipelines for imagery, bounding boxes, segmentation, range data, and pose ground truth used in machine learning and perception development.
• Implement dynamic target simulation capabilities, including configurable movement, deployment scenarios, and real-time scenario changes.
• Manage 3D asset workflows, including importing external models, optimizing assets, and defining visual and thermal material properties.
• Develop simulation features supporting scenario analysis, including proximity detection, entity tracking, and performance scoring.
• Optimize simulation performance for real-time execution, accelerated testing, and large-scale parallel scenario runs.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to integrate perception simulation into CI/CD workflows and continuous software evaluation processes.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate is an experienced simulation or graphics engineer with strong Unreal Engine development skills and an interest in autonomous systems, robotics, and synthetic data generation. Success in this role requires technical depth, problem-solving ability, and the ability to collaborate across engineering disciplines.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Game Development, or a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 3–6+ years of experience developing with Unreal Engine and C++, including custom plugins and modules.
• Experience integrating ROS 2 with simulation environments and working with robotics software architectures.
• Strong understanding of 3D graphics, real-time rendering, camera models, sensor simulation, and visual perception requirements.
• Knowledge of camera-based perception systems, including object detection, tracking, and synthetic data requirements.
• Ability to design scalable software architectures using strong programming practices, design patterns, and collaborative development workflows.
• Experience with autonomous vehicles, robotics, or aerospace simulation environments is highly valued.
• Familiarity with thermal/IR sensors, multi-modal sensing systems, lidar/radar simulation, or sim-to-real workflows preferred.
• Understanding of state estimation, multi-target tracking, Kalman filters, and perception evaluation methodologies is a plus.
• Experience with edge deployment platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson, TensorRT, or hardware-integrated perception systems is beneficial.
• Familiarity with UAV simulation, flight dynamics, gimbal modeling, camera geometry, GPU programming, compute shaders, or procedural environment generation is preferred.
• Experience with Python automation, Unreal Blueprint development, 3D asset tools such as Blender or Maya, distributed simulation, and CI/CD workflows is a plus.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, collaborative engineering environment.
• Ability to work on projects supporting U.S. government requirements, including applicable citizenship and employment authorization requirements.

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation range of $145,000 – $175,000 USD.
• Comprehensive total compensation package.
• Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and additional benefit options.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company matching.
• Four weeks of paid time off annually.
• Twelve company-paid holidays each year.
• Opportunity to work on advanced autonomous systems and next-generation aerospace technologies.
• Collaborative environment with experienced engineers and innovators.
• Professional growth opportunities within a rapidly evolving technology organization.