Senior Autonomy Engineer (USV)

Location: BlueOps, West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. The role involves domestic and international travel for integration, sea trials, and customer support.

Company

Blue Ops develops autonomy systems for uncrewed surface vessels supporting maritime, defense, and commercial programs.

What you will do

• Design, implement, and validate autonomous behaviors for uncrewed surface vessel platforms.
• Develop sensor-driven situational awareness for real-time perception, obstacle avoidance, and decision-making.
• Lead installation, calibration, integration, and field testing of autonomy systems on production and demonstration vessels.
• Support simulation-based development, software architecture, and scalability across multiple vessel platforms.
• Develop COLREG-compliant navigation and collision-avoidance behaviors.
• Coordinate autonomy developers, marine engineers, systems integrators, and field operations while mentoring engineering teams.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, or Marine Engineering from an ABET-accredited university.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience in autonomy, robotics, or intelligent systems engineering.
• Strong knowledge of marine platforms, navigation systems, control architectures, and sensor fusion.
• Proficiency in C++, Python, ROS, Gazebo, and SIL/HIL robotics simulation environments.
• The role involves ITAR/EAR-controlled technology; candidates must provide proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent residence and must not require sponsorship for export-restricted work authorization.

Nice to have

• Active Secret or higher security clearance.
• Master’s or PhD with at least seven years of related experience.
• Direct experience with USVs, autonomous maritime systems, or military host vessels.
• Experience with AI/ML, mission planning, data-driven decision frameworks, DevSecOps, or CI/CD for mission-critical software.
• Experience with SWARM autonomy, multi-vehicle coordination, and transitioning autonomy research into deployed systems.

Culture & Benefits

• Work spans office, industrial facilities, vessels, and field environments.
• Regular travel and occasional off-hours or weekend work may be required for sea trials, customer support, emergencies, or projects.
• Physical work may include walking, standing, climbing, kneeling, using PPE, and handling equipment weighing up to 25 pounds.
• Annual equity package is included with the salary.
• Equal employment opportunity policies and post-offer background screening apply.