Head of Autonomy

Who we are Neros is transforming a defense industry mired in costly, behemoth machinery—to circumvent a looming vulnerability gap, to give dismounted soldiers a fighting chance against tanks, and ultimately, to get as many humans off the battlefield as possible. While consumer technology is evolving by bounds on the smaller-cheaper-better path, U.S. defense technology wallows in the large, centralized, and wildly expensive paradigm. Our air, land, and sea machinery budget is staggering; yet these large assets can still be vulnerable to very small weapons. When swarm technology comes into its own, the asymmetry will escalate. Nowhere is the pattern more glaring than in small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS)—drones. What you will be doing The Head of Autonomy for Neros will build the core autonomy stack for millions of mass-manufactured, attritable strike drones. This person will be responsible for getting our AI product to market and amplify the effectiveness of Neros drone pilots by multiple orders of magnitude. You will own the core autonomy stack, construct and direct a rapid-iteration team, deploying GPS-denied navigation, terminal guidance, and swarm coordination into brutally contested environments. Hire and build a strong team of world-class talent Manage and grow team leads/managers across core computer vision, state estimation, and controls directions Set autonomy roadmap with help from their principal engineer, product org, and founders Be responsible for current and future autonomy products You should have the following You have owned the build-out of past teams and run the hiring process with support from a recruiting org Experience defining the scope of autonomy products and working across teams through production 6+ years of autonomy experience, ideally in a fast-paced, high-volume startup Hardware constrained autonomy deployment Strong ability to synthesize customer objectives into engineering outcomes. Understands how to test new approaches to controls on actual robots / drones Have experience across controls engineering, state estimation, vision, etc. Previous ownership of sensor fusion for IMUs, GPS, cameras, and other onboard sensors. Test and validate state estimation solutions in both simulated and real-world environments. Experience with non-linear controls, or motion planning Significant experience building embedded software for autonomous systems Experience leading product roadmap across multiple systems Nice to have Knowledge of FPV drones Strong knowledge of sensor fusion techniques (e.g., Kalman filters, EKF, particle filters) Experience with simulation tools US Salary Range $100,000 - $400,000 USD The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Neros' total compensation package. We’re an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.