Robotics Software Engineer

About Applied Intuition Defence

Applied Intuition UK is a software and infrastructure supplier that accelerates the deployment of next-generation autonomous capabilities to the warfighter across air, land, sea, and space. A subsidiary of Applied Intuition, we deliver dual-use solutions to national security customers that build upon several years of product development and experience from commercial autonomy programs. Based in London, our seasoned defence team hails from Palantir, Anduril, SpaceX, Google, Lockheed Martin, and the UK and US Armed Services. Learn more at appliedintuitiondefense.com.

About the role
As a Robot Software Engineer, your day-to-day life will vary. Some days you might find yourself out in the field, integrating hardware and software directly onto vehicle platforms and pushing autonomy algorithms through live testing. Other days you'll be back in the office, deep in SIL and HIL environments, working through the complex autonomy and vehicle intelligence systems that span both hardware and software domains. And some days you'll be on-site with a customer, demoing what you built and troubleshooting in real time as they put it to the test. Every day is different, and each one moves the work forward.

Along the way, you'll touch whatever it takes to make the platform work, such as behaviours development, platform integration, navigation, and everything in between. You'll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to deliver robust, scalable autonomy solutions for defense customers, drawing on computer networking, code integration, and a genuine passion for robotics. You'll build, test, and deploy your software, and then watch it actually fly.

At Applied Intuition you will:

• Develop and adapt mission behavior, navigation, and decision-making logic to meet the needs of diverse defense platforms and missions

• Design and implement autonomy capabilities that are modular and reusable across different vehicle types and programs

• Integrate and deploy autonomy solutions onto embedded Linux and other hardware platforms, including interfacing with sensors and collecting data

• Conduct system-level setup, testing, and validation, including software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) evaluations

• Support live flight test of autonomy software on Group 1-5 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

• Troubleshoot complex software and integration issues to ensure high reliability and performance across the stack

• Collaborate with 3rd party UAS vendors and cross-functional teams to bring autonomy software to life on OEM and Applied hardware alike

Who we’re looking for:

• BS or MS in Robotics, Computer Science, or related engineering field

• 3+ years of hands-on experience working with robotic systems (hardware, software, and integration)

• Experience with modern C++

• Experience developing autonomy behavior and decision-making logic (e.g., behavior trees, state machines) and/or navigation algorithms for robotic or autonomous systems

• Experience integrating autonomy/robotics products with Pixhawk autopilots (ArduPilot and/or PX4)

• Experience integrating with communication busses & protocols: UART/RS232/RS422/RS485, SPI/QSPI, I2C, Ethernet

• Experience developing in Docker, containerized deployment environments, and using Linux-based operating systems (e.g., RHEL, Ubuntu)

• Familiarity with real-time, edge computing, and safety-critical systems operating in software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), test & operational environments

• Excellent communication skills and a customer-oriented project delivery mindset

Travel Requirements:

• General willingness to travel for company business between our offices, as well as to customer sites

Security Requirements:

• Must have ability to hold UK Security Clearance (current or previous preferred)