Engineering Manager
Merlin Labs
Engineering Manager
Merlin Labs
Autonomous flight control for aircraft
Salary Range: 180000 to 240000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)
Drive the technical direction and delivery of autonomous decision making, behavior execution, and motion planning capabilities for airborne systems.
Guide, mentor, and manage a team of engineers across a broad range of experience levels in developing software capabilities.
Identify gaps and define staffing needs to develop and deliver decision making and behavior capabilities.
Ensure the decision making, behaviors, and motion planning technical plans align with short term R&D objectives, long term objectives, and the Merlin technology roadmap.
Support simulation, integration, and flight test activities to validate real-world performance.
Collaborate across Merlin to develop novel systems to solve the toughest problems in aviation and autonomy.
Degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics Engineering, or a related subject.
Strong experience developing software for autonomous systems.
Several years of experience providing direct management and technical leadership to a team of at least 10 engineers at different levels.
Broad understanding and familiarity with in one or more of the following:
Mission management frameworks such as behavior trees, hierarchical task networks, state machines, petri nets.
Single- and multi-vehicle autonomy, resource allocation, and decision making algorithms.
Airborne contingency and emergency management.
Machine learning for complex decision making and behavior generation.
Familiarity with modern software development workflows and practices, including version control, pipelines, and unit testing, and peer review.
Experience with overall product development cycle, including design, testing, and troubleshooting at the system level as well as at the software component level.
Proficiency writing both Python and C++.
Familiarity with simulation software, especially aircraft simulation.
Experience with proposal writing and technical roadmap development.
Experience with Zenoh, ROS, DDS, or similar middleware for robotics/autonomy systems.
Experience with government open architectures such as A-GRA, OMS and FACE.
Experience developing and/or using modern avionics systems.
Experience with hardware and software integration and debugging.
Experience with flight testing (uncrewed or crewed aircraft).
Awareness of aviation certification standards such as DO-178.
Pilot license and flight experience is a plus.
Autonomous flight control for aircraft
Merlin Labs builds autonomous flight technology, focusing on the Merlin Pilot, an autonomous flight system designed to be deployed across aircraft of any size or age. How it works: the Merlin Pilot is an autonomous pilot system that can operate with a human pilot during a transitional phase, increasing safety and trust. It’s designed to be integrated into existing and future aircraft through partnerships with aviation authorities and manufacturers; revenue comes from selling and licensing the technology to operators and OEMs. What makes Merlin different: it emphasizes a scalable, adaptable platform that is validated through regulatory engagement (FAA, CAA NZ) and a phased approach to autonomy rather than immediate full automation. What is the goal: to enable safe, scalable autonomous flight across commercial airlines, cargo operators, and potentially private aircraft, by providing a certified, integrated autonomous flight solution that can be adopted across fleets.
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