Autonomy Engineer, Navigation

About BRINC

At BRINC, we are building the technology that will define the future of emergency response. As a vertically integrated U.S. drone technology company, BRINC designs and manufactures unmanned aircraft systems, autonomous drone stations, command-and-control software, and advanced autonomy for public safety. Today, BRINC deploys Drone as First Responder (DFR) networks that dispatch drones directly to 911 calls, providing real-time aerial intelligence before ground units arrive and helping first responders make faster, safer decisions. BRINC serves more than 1,000 public safety customers across all 50 states, is the sole drone supplier to Motorola Solutions, and has raised more than $280 million from leading strategic and technology investors, including Motorola Solutions, Index Ventures, Sam Altman, Dylan Field, and others. BRINC is recruiting exceptional engineers to build the next generation of autonomous emergency-response technology, including flight-critical firmware and advanced pilot-assistance capabilities.

About this Role

We are seeking an Autonomy Engineer to join our team and advance the navigation capabilities of our UAVs and public safety products. You will design, implement, and optimize real-time planning & perception algorithms that enable safe navigation across a wide range of scenarios. In this role, you will work across local trajectory generation, obstacle detection and avoidance, global route planning, and behavior planning. You will collaborate closely with state estimation & control, embedded software, live ops, and hardware teams to bring next-generation navigation solutions into production UAV platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Research and design algorithms enabling safe UAV navigation.
• Implement and optimize navigation algorithms on embedded processors for computational efficiency and system resiliency.
• Work with sensor data to detect and avoid obstacles and environmental hazards.
• Validate navigation performance through simulation, log replay, hardware-in-the-loop, and real-world flight testing in a variety of conditions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration.
• Contribute to technical strategy, define best practices, and help guide the evolution of the navigation and sensing stack as systems scale and mature.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science or a related field, or a Master's degree with a minimum of 2+ years of industry experience.
• Strong programming skills in C++ and Python, with experience developing software for real physical systems.
• Experience developing planning or perception systems for unmanned systems.

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with motion/path planning techniques such as RRT*, A*, or MPC-based trajectory optimization
• Experience applying radar, computer vision, or deep learning for perception on resource-constrained edge hardware
• Background in UAV reliability, redundancy, and autonomous flight considerations
• Experience with ROS2, PX4, MAVSDK, and/or similar robotics middleware
• Familiarity with safety-critical or certifiable software practices a plus

BRINC Culture Values

• Try the hard stuff
• Be innovative - Invent the future
• Move fast
• Listen to end-users
• Strive for excellence
• Don’t build a dystopia
• Be frugal
• Save lives through technology

If you’re interested in this role and in joining BRINC, we hope you’ll apply. We’d love to review your application and get to know more about you!

BRINC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that is resolute in cultivating an environment that promotes safety, diversity, inclusion and equity. We’re committed to hiring the best talent — regardless of race, creed, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances — and empowering every employee so they can do their best work. If you have a disability or special need, please let our recruiting team know - we strive to provide appropriate accommodation and assistance.

Benefits and perks listed below may vary based on the nature of your employment with BRINC and/or the country within which you work

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans for our employees and their families
• 401K plan
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Flexible Time Off (Exempt) / Paid time off (Non-Exempt)
• Flexible work environment
• Orca pass (for those in Puget Sound)
• Free snacks, drinks and espresso (Seattle office)