Vatn Systems

Modular autonomous underwater vehicles for defense

Autonomy Engineer

Robotics & Autonomous SystemsConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-timeBristol, RI, USANo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

Have a strong engineering foundation in computer science, software engineering, robotics, mathematics, or physics, or equivalent hands-on experience.
Have 3 or more years of experience writing production C++, Python, or Rust in a Linux environment.
Have experience building robust data-driven software.
Be able to get up to speed quickly in complex, established codebases.
Have proven results in simulation and field tests.
Be a U.S. citizen and able to receive a security clearance.

Responsibilities

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 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.

Desired Qualifications

Have experience with maritime sensors, underwater acoustics, or subsea systems.
Have an advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in a relevant technical field.
Have experience with ROS 2 or comparable robotics middleware.
Have experience with estimation and sensor fusion, including INS/DVL and Kalman filtering.
Have prior startup and/or defense industry experience.

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.

About the Company

Vatn Systems

Modular autonomous underwater vehicles for defense

Vatn Systems designs and manufactures modular autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for military use. Its Skelmir S6 and S12 are fast, modular UUVs that can launch from air, surface, or subsurface platforms and use AI-driven navigation in GPS-denied environments to perform missions like sensor placement, electronic warfare, and torpedo operations. They differentiate themselves by offering affordable, scalable AUVs with swarming capabilities and GPS-denied navigation, supported by a Rhode Island factory and partnerships that optimize production with AI. The goal is to provide scalable, mission-ready underwater platforms that act as force multipliers for naval operations by bridging the gap between traditional AUVs and torpedoes.

Company size: 51-200
Company stage: Series A
Total funding: $73M
Headquarters: Bristol, VA
Founded: 2023

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