Apply on Employer Site

Lodestar Space · 1 month ago

Software Engineer - Perception

San Francisco, US

Full-time

Onsite

Mid, Senior Level

$140K/yr - $180K/yr

2+ years exp

Lodestar is dedicated to developing advanced capabilities for protecting high-value space assets in orbit. As a Software Engineer - Perception, you will research and build algorithms for real-time detection and classification of unknown space targets, leveraging computer vision and machine learning to enhance autonomous decision-making in space environments.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)National SecuritySecuritySpace Travel

Diversity & Inclusion

No H1B

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Scoping architecture for the perception system core to Lodestar’s autonomy software suite

Research and adapt novel perception algorithms - everything from lit. review, through training and evaluation, to optimisation and deployment

Design, develop ML algorithms from the ground up, in addition to build on and optimizing our existing models for edge computing

Further develop our robust methods for predicting relative pose of dynamic space targets in harsh and unpredictable visual environments

Integrate perception models into mission simulation environments and real-time autonomy pipelines

Contribute to the design of realistic sensor models and digital twins to improve perception fidelity in mission scenarios

Own perception tooling, model training infrastructure, and evaluation frameworks for ongoing development and deployment

Collaborate across autonomy, estimation, and mission software teams to ensure perception fidelity, performance, and scalability

Qualification

Machine LearningComputer VisionC++PythonDeep Neural NetworksImage ProcessingReal-time SystemsCUDALinuxCollaborationProblem Solving

Required

Bachelor's or Master's degree in, AI/ML, Computer Science, Robotics, a related field, or equivalent experience

2+ years of distinguished industry experience in Machine Learning, robotics, computer vision, or a related field

Excellent software engineering skills in C++ and Python

Strong DNN/ML background and experience in CV and image processing libraries (OpenCV, CUDA-accelerated vision, PCL)

Broad understanding of modern perception systems and their architecture

Experience developing and deploying ML models to real-time systems

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State

Preferred

Experience processing sensor measurements from a variety of sensors including RADAR, electro-optical sensors, RF sensors, or LIDAR

Familiarity with image processing techniques (e.g., feature extraction, segmentation, filtering, stereo matching) to support 3D reconstruction and target classification

Track record optimizing neural networks and geometric algorithms using CUDA kernels, TensorRT, or other GPU acceleration frameworks

Experience with distributed training and cloud-based scaling of ML models (AWS, GCP, or Azure)

Experience with Linux, Git, and CI/CD pipelines

Comfortable with containerization tools such as Docker and Kubernetes

Strong understanding of networking and communication protocols for distributed autonomy systems