Overland AI

Technical Lead - State Estimation

Seattle, WA

Sponsorship not specified$200k-$260kDetected 10 days ago

PythonC++AlgorithmsPlatform EngineeringMachine LearningRoboticsElectrical EngineeringSensorsResearchMentoring

About the role

Our OverDrive autonomy stack enables ground vehicles to navigate and operate off-road in any terrain without GPS or direct operator control.
Overland AI has secured funding from prominent defense tech investors including 8VC and Point 72, and built trusted partnerships with DARPA, the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command.
Formulate and solve estimation problems using Kalman filtering, Bayesian inference, factor graphs, nonlinear optimization, and modern probabilistic techniques.

Design and implement odometry, localization, and mapping algorithms that enable reliable autonomy in GPS-denied and degraded environments.
Develop robust multi-sensor fusion systems combining IMUs, LiDAR, cameras, GNSS, wheel encoders, and other onboard sensors.
Evaluate and integrate learned approaches-including learned odometry, feature representations, and neural mapping methods-where they deliver measurable improvements over classical techniques.
Develop high-performance, production-quality C++ (C++23) software optimized for real-time robotic systems.
Build tooling, simulation infrastructure, and evaluation pipelines that enable rapid algorithm development and validation using large-scale field datasets.
Lead verification and validation efforts across diverse terrain, weather conditions, and operational environments.
Partner closely with perception, planning, controls, and systems engineers to deliver an integrated, reliable autonomy stack.
Mentor engineers, drive technical excellence, and establish best practices for robotics software development.
Role Summary Overland AI is building autonomous ground vehicles capable of operating where GPS is unreliable, terrain is unpredictable, and failure is not an option.
We're looking for a Technical Lead in State Estimation to define the algorithms that allow our vehicles to understand exactly where they are-and keep them operating confidently in the world's most demanding environments.

Strong understanding of inertial navigation, sensor calibration, and multi-modal sensor fusion (IMU, LiDAR, cameras, GNSS).
Desired Qualifications & Experience PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
Experience with ROS 2 and real-time middleware (DDS, shared-memory transport).
Experience with terrain-relative navigation, prior-map localization, or GPS-denied navigation.
Experience leading technical teams, mentoring engineers, and driving architecture decisions.
Experience shipping autonomy systems on production robotic or autonomous vehicle platforms.
Minimum Qualifications MS or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field with specialization in state estimation, SLAM, localization, or probabilistic inference.

The company leverages over a decade of advanced research in robotics and machine learning, as well as a field-test forward ethos, to deliver combined capabilities for unit commanders.

About Overland AI Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Overland AI is transforming land operations for modern defense.
Backed by eight-figure contracts across the Department of Defense, we are strengthening national security by iterating closely with end users engaged in tactical operations.

This listing is sourced directly from Overland AI's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.