Perception Engineer – Computer Vision & Robotics (C-UAS)

About Askari Defense

Modern warfare is dictated by robotics. Autonomous drones and robotic ground systems are reshaping every battlefield on Earth.

Askari develops high-performance, fully-autonomous kinetic intercept systems that counter unmanned aerial and robotic threats in the world's most demanding operational environments. We build deployable systems for real-world constraints, urgent missions, and operators who cannot wait years for capability, and are continuously evolving our systems because the robotic threat evolves daily.

We are a tight team of top engineers and scientists from Skydio, Hermeus, Near Earth Autonomy, Area-I/Anduril, Raytheon, Sandia National Laboratories, and GTRI. We work directly with elite end-users, turning emerging battlefield requirements into rugged, scalable, mission-ready defenses.

Come build alongside elite engineers on a generational mission to defend the Western world. We hold ourselves to an exceptionally high bar: the work is demanding, the pace is intense, and the mission requires people willing to go all in. For the right person, it will be more rewarding than any previous job. Askari is a place for builders serious about mastery, ownership, exponential growth, and delivering capability when it matters most.

As warfare becomes increasingly robotic, distributed, and fast-moving, the defense industrial base needs a new model: Askari is defining that model.

If protecting humanity from the coming age of robotic warfare is the mission you have been waiting for, this is where you do it.

What you'll do

• Design, train, and deploy real-time vision models for detection, classification, tracking, and state estimation on fast-moving aerial targets.
• Optimize networks and CV algorithms with CUDA and TensorRT to hit end-to-end latency on NVIDIA Jetson Orin-class hardware.
• Integrate perception into our autonomy stack using ROS 2 and write production-quality C++ for real-time processing.
• Deploy, benchmark, and maintain models on embedded edge compute aboard autonomous vehicles.
• Join field tests and data collection, then turn what you see on the range into the next model iteration within days, not quarters.

Required

• B.S. in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field plus 1+ years of industry or applied robotics experience, or an M.S. in CS, Robotics, Computer Vision, or a related discipline.
• Experience training and fine-tuning vision models (CNNs, Vision Transformers, detection/tracking).
• Proficiency in C++ for performance-sensitive systems.
• Hands-on GPU programming or profiling experience (CUDA preferred; coursework or projects count).

Preferred

• Deploying models on embedded edge platforms (Jetson Orin/Xavier).
• ROS 2 experience (nodes, lifecycle management, QoS, custom interfaces).
• Sensor fusion (visual-inertial odometry, camera + radar/LiDAR).
• Prior field-robotics or UAS test experience.

Why Askari

• Real hardware, real flights, fast iteration loops. Your code leaves the laptop.
• Small team, direct ownership, and visibility with leadership.
• Meaningful work on a national-security problem.

Export Control & Security

This position may require access to technical data and hardware subject to U.S. export control laws (ITAR/EAR). Applicants must be a "U.S. Person" as defined in 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 (U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and protected individuals), or be eligible to obtain the required export authorization. Askari Defense does not currently sponsor employment visas for this role. The role may also require a background check and handling of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) under NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Askari Defense is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.