Perception Engineer - Multimodal & Embodied AI (R6022)

The role

This engineer will evaluate emerging multimodal and embodied AI models against real sensor data. They will build prototypes and carry successful ideas into the Hivemind autonomy product for autonomous aircraft and vehicles.

What you will do

• Evaluate emerging models and methods against representative sensor data and autonomy needs.
• Build prototypes and experiments that show strengths, limitations and deployment opportunities.
• Combine learned and classical approaches to improve detection, tracking, geometric vision or sensor fusion.
• Optimize and integrate capabilities for edge deployment, writing Python and C++ software.
• Help deliver tested, documented capabilities and stay involved as other teams adopt them.

Required qualifications

• A PhD in computer vision, machine learning, robotics or a related field, or an equivalent record of advanced research and hands-on engineering.
• Research depth in an area such as multimodal vision, visual foundation models, video understanding, open-vocabulary perception or embodied learning.
• Strong Python skills and experience with PyTorch or a comparable ML framework.
• A thoughtful approach to experiments, evaluation data and understanding why models fail.
• Experience building substantial research software, an interest in developing production-quality C++, and a collaborative approach.

Nice to have

• Experience bringing a research prototype into sustained use.
• Experience with robotics, real sensors, temporal data or multi-sensor perception.
• Familiarity with vision-language models, vision-language-action models or embodied AI.
• Experience with C++, edge inference or model optimization using tools such as ONNX, TensorRT or CUDA.

Benefits

• Full-time regular employees receive a bonus and equity in addition to benefits.
• Temporary employees receive a temporary benefits package after 60 days of employment.

Before you apply

• All offers are contingent on a cleared background check and possible reference check.
• Recent PhD graduates and early-career researchers are welcome to apply.
• Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that builds intelligent systems to protect service members and civilians. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.