Jobless Developer
Vatn Systems logo
Vatn Systems

Open since Sep 2026

Autonomy EngineerVatn Systems · Bristol

Autonomy Engineer

BristolOn-site

AI Summary

Builds software for autonomous underwater vehicles, developing motion planning, navigation, collision avoidance, and control systems that operate robustly in degraded sensor and GNSS-denied environments.

About this role

We're looking for an Autonomy Engineer to build the software that makes our AUVs capable in the real world. You'll own features end to end — from whiteboard to sea trial — and see your code run on vehicles in the water within weeks, not quarters. If you want tight feedback loops between what you write and what a vehicle does, this is that job.
What you'll do
  • Develop motion planning, path planning, behavior planning, and control systems for autonomous underwater vehicles
  • Build autonomy capabilities spanning navigation, collision avoidance, target following, station keeping, formation behavior, and multi-vehicle coordination
  • Make autonomy algorithms robust to the conditions that actually break them: degraded sensors, uncertain environments, dynamic contacts, and GNSS-denied operation
  • Own technical tradeoffs across performance, safety, reliability, latency, compute constraints, and mission requirements
  • Work directly with perception and sensor engineers to turn perception outputs into safe, effective autonomy decisions
  • Mature autonomy from prototype capability into reliable, repeatable, fielded behavior — including time on the water supporting test and deployment
What you bring
  • Strong engineering foundation — CS, Software Engineering, Robotics, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent hands-on experience
  • 3+ years writing production C++, Python, or Rust in a Linux environment
  • Experience building robust data-driven software
  • Ability to get up to speed quickly in complex, established codebases
  • Proven results in simulation and field tests
Nice to have
  • Maritime sensors, underwater acoustics, or subsea systems
  • Advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in a relevant technical field
  • ROS 2, or comparable robotics middleware
  • Estimation and sensor fusion (INS/DVL, Kalman filtering)
  • Prior startup and/or defense industry experience
Candidates must be U.S.Citizens and able to receive a Security Clearance.

Vatn is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

Skills

Behavior PlanningC++Collision AvoidanceData-driven SoftwareFormation BehaviorINS/DVLKalman FilteringLinuxMotion PlanningMulti-vehicle CoordinationPath PlanningPythonROS 2RustSensor FusionSimulationStation Keeping

Explore related jobs

More jobs at Vatn Systems

Similar Collision Avoidance jobs

Jobs in Bristol

Browse these categories

C++ JobsLinux JobsPython JobsJobs in BristolJobs in United States

Market data for this role

All reports →