Technical Leader — Perception Systems

We are looking for a seasoned Technical Leader to head the Perception Systems function. This role combines deep technical expertise in various domains of Perception Systems including Visual SLAM, Computer Vision, and AI/ML with the leadership bandwidth to drive architecture decisions, mentor engineers, and define a multi-year product roadmap for autonomous perception UAV platforms. The ideal candidate brings hands-on experience from ADAS or UAV domains and is energised by the challenge of building systems that operate reliably in GPS-denied, resource-constrained, and operationally demanding environments.Key ResponsibilitiesTechnical Leadership & ArchitectureOwn the end-to-end perception architecture for UAV platforms — from sensor integration through algorithm design to flight-validated deploymentDefine and enforce software architecture standards for real-time C/C++ perception pipelines running on embedded SoCs (Qualcomm RB5, Jetson Nano, RPi CM5 and equivalent)Lead technical design reviews, code reviews, and algorithm trade-off analyses across the Perception teamCollaborate with avionics, flight control, and GCS teams to ensure seamless system integrationVisual SLAM & State EstimationDrive development and optimisation of Visual/Visual-Inertial SLAM systems (ORB-SLAM3, VINS-Mono, OpenVINS or equivalent) for GPS-denied navigationGuide research into thermal SLAM, night-time visual positioning, and multi-spectral sensor fusionDefine validation methodology and performance benchmarks for localisation accuracy, map consistency, and drift bounds across terrain typesAI / ML & Deep Learning InitiativesOversee UAV-specific object detection and multi-target tracking pipelines (YOLO, Siamese trackers and next-generation models)Lead development of vision-based obstacle detection and avoidance systems for autonomous flight safetyDefine roadmap for vision-based seeker technology for precision engagement and delivery applicationsDrive image/video enhancement initiatives — super-resolution (ESRGAN/HAT), dehazing, denoising — optimised for edge inferenceEvaluate and integrate model compression techniques (quantisation, pruning, TensorRT / ONNX Runtime) for on-device deploymentPeople & Programme ManagementBuild, mentor, and grow a high-performance team of perception and computer vision engineersTranslate product strategy into engineering milestones with clear ownership and timelinesInterface with programme managers, system architects, and customers on capability requirements and delivery schedulesChampion engineering excellence through documentation, testing rigour, and CI/CD practicesEducationB.Tech / M.Tech / M.S. / Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related fieldExperience12-18+ years in computer vision, SLAM, or autonomous systems engineering, with at least 3 years in a technical lead or architect capacityProven track record delivering perception systems in an ADAS, robotics, or UAV product contextExperience leading cross-functional engineering teams and driving algorithm development from research to productionCore Technical SkillsVisual / Visual-Inertial SLAM: Deep knowledge of feature-based (ORB, AKAZE), direct, and learning-based SLAM methods; loop closure, map management, drift correctionC/C++ (C++14/17): Expert-level; ability to write and review performance-critical, real-time code on embedded Linux platformsComputer Vision: Optical flow, stereo vision, depth estimation, camera models and calibration (monocular, stereo, fisheye)Deep Learning for Perception: Object detection, segmentation, tracking; experience with PyTorch/TensorFlow and edge inference frameworksROS / ROS2: Proficiency with perception node development, tf2, sensor drivers, and inter-process communicationSensor Fusion: IMU pre-integration, barometer/GPS fusion, multi-camera rigs; EKF/UKF/graph optimisation (g2o, GTSAM, Ceres)Embedded Deployment: Performance profiling, optimisation for ARM/Qualcomm DSP/NPU, GStreamer pipelines for videoDesirable / Good to HaveFamiliarity with thermal imaging systems and thermal-specific perception challengesExperience with flight stack integrationKnowledge of NeRF, 3D Gaussian Splatting, or neural implicit representations for mappingPublications or patents in SLAM, autonomous systems, or computer vision

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