Lodestar Space

Lodestar Space

Software Engineer: On-board Autonomy

Los Angeles, US · Senior · Full-time

Work authorization required$120k-$145kDetected 35 days ago
PythonC++AlgorithmsGitAWSGCPAzureCI/CDLinuxMachine LearningTensorFlowPyTorchRoboticsControlsResearchCommunication

About the role

  • These models adapt dynamically to changing conditions, enabling real-time autonomous decision-making even in communications-limited or uncertain environments.
  • We proudly have an "extreme ownership" oriented engineering culture.
  • Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity.

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement on-board decision-making models that recommend and adapt strategies in real time
  • Develop autonomous decision algorithms that integrate information from perception, state estimation, and intent prediction models to execute mission objectives
  • Research and implement ML models for decision making - everything from lit. review, through training, to deployment
  • Implement decision models that adapt dynamically to changing mission context, environmental conditions, and system status
  • Develop frameworks for continuous re-evaluation of active strategies to ensure resilient and adaptive behavior under uncertainty
  • Support real-time autonomy in communications-limited or time-critical scenarios
  • Build and maintain autonomy infrastructure, testing frameworks, and deployment pipelines for space missions

Requirements

  • 2+ years of distinguished industry experience in autonomy, decision-making, or control systems for aerospace/robotics
  • Strong proficiency in C++ and Python and DL frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
  • Track record implementing autonomy applications in real-time or safety-critical environments
  • Experience with distributed training and cloud-based scaling of ML models (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
  • Experience with Linux, Git, and CI/CD pipelines
  • Strong understanding of distributed autonomy, networking, and communication protocols

Nice to have

  • Preferred Skills & Experience

Compensation

  • bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.
  • Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity.
  • In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision and dental coverage, as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
  • (E1) Junior Software Engineer: $120,000 - $145,000 / year
  • (E2) Software Engineer: $140,000 - $180,000 / year
  • (E3) Senior Software Engineer: Competitive

Benefits

  • Meaningful equity incentives as part of our employee option pool
  • Flexible PTO with generous paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave
  • Comprehensive medical, dental & vision coverage
  • 401(k) retirement plan with company match
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, a related field, or equivalent experience
  • Demonstrated experience with machine learning applied to decision-making or control problems
  • Track record with optimal control, planning, or reinforcement learning in real-time systems

Visa & Work Authorization

  • citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U

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