Cat
Principal Perception Architect
Irving, Texas · Principal · Part-time
H1B sponsorship available$159k-$259kDetected 1 day ago
AlgorithmsMachine LearningRoboticsSensorsLeadershipCommunicationProblem Solving
About the role
- This role requires a strong systems thinker who can connect perception technology with actual machine autonomy needs.
- The Principal Perception Architect will work closely with the Robotics team to ensure perception outputs are useful for planning, control, and machine behavior.
- A major part of this role is defining clear technical contracts between perception and downstream consumers, including world model services, robotics autonomy logic, simulation systems, validation pipelines, and edge runtime platforms.
Responsibilities
- Define and own the end-to-end perception architecture for autonomous machine systems, including sensor integration, sensor fusion, perception ML, scene understanding, world model inputs, data flow, validation, and safety analysis.
- Lead the Perception Architecture Team by setting technical direction, aligning architecture priorities, guiding key design decisions, and ensuring the team works as one cohesive architecture function.
- Create the perception technical roadmap that connects near-term product needs with long-term autonomy capability, scalability, reliability, and platform reuse.
- Ensure perception architecture supports real-world operating conditions, including sensor degradation, harsh environments, blind spots, poor visibility, machine vibration, calibration drift, compute limits, and uncertain or incomplete data.
- Partner cross-functionally with Edge Architecture, Simulation, Data, Machine Platform, Safety, Validation, Product, and Robotics teams to ensure perception capabilities are deployable, replayable, traceable, testable, and ready for real-world autonomy use.
- ability to determine the root cause of organizational problems and create alternative solutions that resolve these problems.
- Platform Architecture: Expert knowledge of technologies and methods to design processing mechanisms and roadmaps to execute business application systems
- ability to design these roadmaps and deploy supportive interfaces for end-users to access related systems, in accordance with standards and processes.
- ability to design blueprints on how to integrate data resources for business processes and functional support. Ability to utilize design methodologies, tools and techniques to convert business requirements and logical models into a technical design.
Requirements
- Expert Knowledge of techniques and tools that promote effective analysis
- Expert knowledge of processes, techniques and factors that affect data architecture
- ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.
- Expert knowledge of leadership concepts and ability to use strategies and skills to enlist others in setting, embracing and achieving objectives.
- Ability to take ownership of end-to-end perception architecture
- Strong autonomy systems thinking with ability to connect perception outputs to robotics, planning, control, simulation, edge runtime, machine platform interfaces, safety analysis, and field validation.
- Has experience with deployed autonomous, robotic, vehicle, industrial, agriculture, construction, mining, or mobile machine systems.
- Multi-sensor integration and fusion depth with strong understanding of camera, lidar, radar, stereo, ultrasonic, GNSS, localization inputs, and machine state data.
Skills
- Progressive career in software engineering and architecture with a focus on data (typically 10 years+)
Compensation
- $159,120.00 - $258,570.00
- Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.
- Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience.
Benefits
- This is a summary list of benefits.
- Medical, dental, and vision benefits*
- Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*
- Health Savings Account (HSA)*
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
- Health Lifestyle Programs*
- Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
- Incentive bonus*
- Disability benefits
Company info
- We are seeking a Principal Perception Architect / Team Lead to define and lead the end-to-end perception architecture for advanced autonomous machine systems.
Equal opportunity
- Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities.
Visa & Work Authorization
- Visa sponsorship is available for this position
This listing is sourced directly from Cat's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.