Full-Time

Senior Systems Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles

Posted on 11/7/2025

Forterra

Forterra

501-1,000 employees

Autonomous driving system for retrofitted vehicles

Compensation Overview

$130k - $145k/yr

Germantown, MD, USA

In Person

Category
Hardware Engineering (2)
,
Requirements
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Embedded Systems Engineering, Robotics or related area with 4+ years of experience
  • Master’s Degree with 3+ year of experience
  • Systems engineering skills and qualifications through education or experience including requirements definition/allocation/traceability, interface definition, verification and validation
  • The ideal candidate must have the ability to understand, define and develop system specifications, architectures, interfaces
  • Hands-on experience with verification and validation activities
  • Knowledge and experience of product development through traditional waterfall and agile practices
  • Familiarity with Autonomous Vehicles, sensors, embedded systems
  • Exposure to the development of safety critical systems through the product lifecycle
  • Experience with Requirement Management Tools (such as Jama, Doors)
  • Familiarity with Software Development principles and ability to collaborate with SW engineering experts
  • Skilled systems engineer who brings together engineering, product, and operations teams to deliver cutting-edge autonomous systems
  • Clear communicator who excels at navigating multiple priorities and stakeholders in a fast-moving environment
Responsibilities
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams on the development of concepts of operation, use cases, system architectures and system requirements
  • Ensure traceability of requirements across architectures, analyses and verification plans throughout the project lifecycle
  • Lead the development of system architectures and ICDs
  • Support the program team with preparation and coordination of activities for technical gate reviews (ex. PDR, CDR, TRR etc.) for various systems of interest
  • Participate in system-level trade studies and analyses
  • Collect metrics and communicate with program stakeholders and management in a timely manner, identifying both technical and programmatic risks
  • Deliver presentations to internal and external stakeholders to effectively communicate proposed concepts, solutions, and analysis results
  • Participate and support with verification and validation activities of autonomous vehicles
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with Autonomous Vehicles behavior definition and decomposition into functional and performance requirements
  • Working knowledge of key algorithms from at least one major robotics discipline (navigation, localization, perception, planning)
  • Experience developing architectures in an MBSE environment (BDD, IBD, State Machines, Sequence, Activities, parametric, etc), preferably in Cameo/MagicDraw
  • Experience with safety standards for regulated industries, including automotive, military, aerospace, or medical. Example standards include, but are not limited to ISO-21448, ISO-26262, MIL-STD-882E, DO-178, and ISO-14971
  • Familiarity with Cybersecurity principles and ability to collaborate with cybersecurity experts
  • Familiarity with Machinery Standards (ISO 12100, ISO 13849, ISO 3691)

Forterra provides autonomous vehicle technology for defense and industrial sectors. Its AutoDrive® installs as a retrofit kit that adds sensors, computing, and software to existing ground vehicles, enabling unmanned operation in challenging environments. It differentiates itself by upgrading current fleets rather than buying new vehicles and by serving both military and industrial markets. The goal is to deploy and scale AutoDrive® across applications to improve efficiency and safety, backed by its Series B funding.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Debt Financing

Total Funding

$634M

Headquarters

Clarksburg, Maryland

Founded

2002

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • BAE Systems partnership develops AMPV prototype by 2026, expanding to Bradley A4.
  • $238M funding at $1B valuation accelerates MESA and AutoTT production in 2026.
  • Kalmar JDA integrates AutoDrive into terminal tractors for ports by late 2026.

What critics are saying

  • BAE develops in-house autonomy for Bradley A4, eroding Forterra's expansions in 12 months.
  • DoD cancels RCV and SMET under Replicator, stranding vehicles without contracts in 18 months.
  • goTenna integration fails GPS-denied tests, triggering investor exodus in 6 months.

What makes Forterra unique

  • AutoDrive retrofits drive-by-wire vehicles for off-road, GPS-denied autonomy across defense platforms.
  • TerraLink orchestrates multi-vehicle swarms via TAK and WMI military interfaces.
  • Selected for DoD's RCV, GEARS, ROGUE Fires, and SMET programs with 400,000 miles driven.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Paid Vacation

Parental Leave

Professional Development Budget

401(k) Retirement Plan

401(k) Company Match

Paid Holidays

Hybrid Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-6%

1 year growth

-5%

2 year growth

-9%
Bloomberg Law
Nov 12th, 2025
Forterra Raises $238M, Hits $1B Valuation

Forterra, a startup specializing in autonomous military vehicle technology, has raised $238 million in a new funding round, boosting its valuation to over $1 billion. The funding, which includes $50 million in debt, was led by Moore Strategic Ventures. The investment will accelerate the production of Forterra's versatile military vehicles, capable of operating individually or in swarms for tasks like surveillance and transporting missiles and AI-supporting hardware.

Bloomberg L.P.
Nov 12th, 2025
Autonomous Military Vehicle Startup Notches Over $1 Billion Valuation in New Deal

Moore Strategic Ventures, Franklin Templeton and others have invested $238 million in Forterra.

CityBiz
Oct 9th, 2025
Forterra Acquires goTenna Networking Solutions

Forterra, a leader in autonomous mission systems, has announced its acquisition of goTenna, a pioneer in tactical mesh networking solutions.

intelligence360
Sep 29th, 2025
Forterra Raises $188M in New Funding

Robotic Research OpCo, operating as Forterra, has filed a notice with the U.S. SEC for an exempt offering to raise up to $188.3 million in new funding. This filing is required under federal securities law for companies selling securities without registration under specific exemptions. The notice must be filed within 15 days of the first sale. Forterra specializes in autonomous vehicle systems for defense and national security.

The Business Journals
Aug 22nd, 2025
Forterra raises $93M for autonomous vehicles

Clarksburg-based autonomous vehicle developer Forterra has raised $93 million in funding.

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