Senior Software Engineer - Autonomous Systems
Senior engineer on Palantir's customer-facing autonomous systems team, building cloud and edge command-and-control / agentic autonomy software that integrates sensors, unmanned vehicles, and LLM-driven decision-making for military and civilian missions. Requires Rust, Python, C++, or Java proficiency and US security clearance eligibility.
- Compensation
- $145K–$200K / yr
- Location
- Palo Alto, United States
- Work setup
- Hybrid
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 2+ years
- Category
- Software engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- 5+ years of professional software development experience
- 2+ years of experience contributing to system design or architecture of new and existing systems
- 2+ years of experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
- Strong proficiency in Rust, Python, C++, or Java
- Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or related fields
- Active US Security clearance or eligibility and willingness to obtain one
Nice to have
- Proven experience in software development for autonomous systems, embedded systems, or robotics
- Knowledge of AI/ML, sensor processing, or swarm behaviors
- Knowledge of LLM toolchains and implementing agents into complex real-time data workflows
- Experience deploying and maintaining robust production systems
- Ability to manage complexity, optimize for performance, and think critically under pressure
Full description
A World-Changing Company
Palantir builds the world’s leading software for data-driven decisions and operations. By bringing the right data to the people who need it, our platforms empower our partners to develop lifesaving drugs, forecast supply chain disruptions, locate missing children, and more.
The Role
We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join a customer-facing product engineering team focused on developing advanced Command and Control (C2) and Agentic Autonomy Software for Autonomous Systems for use in operational and tactical missions. This role involves building, integrating, and deploying state-of-the-art software solutions that combine sensors, actuators, unmanned vehicles, and intelligent decision-making systems including self-hosted and commercial LLMs to enable users to employ and manage robotic and autonomous systems across a variety of mission sets. You will work alongside other experts in sensing, artificial intelligence, physics and simulations, user experience, and edge system engineering to build and deliver solutions that redefine complex military and civilian mission scenarios in the real world.
As a part of this team, you will contribute directly to the development of cloud and edge software to command and control autonomous systems, including interfacing with onboard sensors (radar, cameras, RF, and other modalities) and real-time kinetic and non-kinetic systems for individual and swarms of systems. You will work alongside other experts in sensing, artificial intelligence, and systems engineering to shape solutions that redefine complex area defense scenarios.
Core Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and optimize software for mission-critical autonomous systems using modern technologies and methodologies
- Develop algorithms to process data from heterogeneous sensors for real-time state estimation and threat detection
- Build LLM and AI-driven systems capable of assessing threats and rapidly making decisions to deploy responses to those threats
- Develop integrations with a range of sensors, effectors, and autonomous platforms
- Engineer scalable, reliable, and fail-safe systems capable of functioning in high-stakes environments
- Partner with multidisciplinary teams, including robotics experts, hardware engineers, and system integrators, to deliver integrated solutions
What We Value
- Proven experience in software development for autonomous systems, embedded systems, or robotics
- Knowledge of AI/ML, sensor processing, or swarm behaviors is highly desirable
- Knowledge of LLM toolchains and implementation of agents into complex real time data workflows
- Ability to manage complexity, optimize for performance, and think critically under pressure