Pay
In line with similar jobs
$190K–$222K against $166K–$240K, the middle half of what similar US postings state.
From 1,383 postings in the last year. Stated ranges, not salaries paid.
Senior ML Engineer, Perception
San Francisco, California, United States
Actively hiring, first seen by us 4 hours ago- Pay
$190,000–222,000/year · Base — pay source
Compensation & Benefits Base salary: $190,000 to $222,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. Location
Read the full posting- Work setting
On-site — work setting source
Work setup in the employer’s posting: On-site
From the employer’s posting- Employment
Full-time — employment source
Employment type in the employer’s posting: FullTime
From the employer’s posting
Before you apply
- Work authorization
- Must already have the right to work
Visa sponsorship is not available
What you’ll work on
Full postingLead perception engineering for a defense technology team developing autonomous systems.
Lead perception engineering for a defense technology team developing autonomous systems.
Develop ML models and training pipelines, then deploy models to embedded devices.
You will own the perception stack, from detection and tracking to sensor fusion, and help ensure it performs reliably on real hardware in demanding field conditions.
From the employer’s posting
Lead perception engineering for a defense technology team developing autonomous systems. You will own the perception stack, from detection and tracking to sensor fusion, and help ensure it performs reliably on real hardware in demanding field conditions.
About the Role Lead perception engineering for a defense technology team developing autonomous systems. You will own the perception stack, from detection and tracking to sensor fusion, and help ensure it performs reliably on real hardware in demanding field conditions. What You'll Do
Set the perception architecture for detection, tracking, classification, and sensor fusion. Develop ML models and training pipelines, then deploy models to embedded devices. Fuse EO/IR and other sensor data relevant to the system.
Education & alternatives
- Helpful experience includes aerial target tracking, moving-camera compensation, thermal imagery, EO/IR or other sensor fusion, radar or RF perception, and small or long-range target detection. - BS, MS, PhD, or equivalent experience in computer science, electrical engineering, robotics, or a related field. Compensation & Benefits
Posting record
Report an errorActively hiringFirst seen by us today, still listed, and not a repost of an earlier posting.
- Status in our records
- Live
- First seen by us
- Nov 11, 2026today
- Recorded sightings
- 1
- Employer says posted
- Nov 6, 2026
These dates show when we found the posting. Check the employer’s website to confirm it is still accepting applications.
How this job compares
Time since we first saw it
Day 0
Early. Similar jobs usually come down between day 8 and day 75.
From 5,188 similar postings that came down. Coming down is not always a hire.
clera is hiring
16 open jobs
Open jobs by the week we first saw them, last 12 weeks.
Hiring recordSee how this role fits your experience
Add your resume and we’ll mark which of these tools you already use, and point out anything in the posting that could rule you out.
- C++
- Python
Where the posting names them
- At least 5 years building and shipping perception systems on physical hardware. - Strong Python and production C++ skills, with experience in computer vision, detection, and real-time tracking on live sensor data. - Experience deploying ML models on-device with TensorRT, ONNX, or equivalent, and optimizing for embedded compute and tight latency budgets.
Your next step
Complete your application on jobs.ashbyhq.com. The employer’s form will show what is required.
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- No account needed. “Autofill from resume” at the top of the form fills the key fields from your file.
Already applied? Track this application
Demand for ML Engineer roles
New ML Engineer postings at the employers we follow are up 13% over the last 6 weeks compared with the 6 before.
Each bar is one week of new postings. The darkest bars are the last 6 weeks.
Counted from the hiring pages we’ve followed for at least five weeks, so employers we add don’t look like growth. Updated weekly.
About the role
We file this job under ML Engineer, by the work the posting describes.
ML engineers put machine learning models into products. They write the code that trains, ships, serves and monitors models so a recommendation or prediction works for real users.
Postings ask for strong Python and software engineering, a framework such as PyTorch, cloud services, and more and more often experience with large language models.
A data scientist often works out which model to build; an ML engineer makes it run reliably in production.
US government figures for computer and information research scientists
- Median yearly pay, May 2025
- $140,300
- Expected change, 2025 to 2035
- 21.8% more jobsagainst 3.5% for all jobs
The government has no code for ML engineers, so these figures are for the closest group, computer and information research scientists.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) and Employment Projections (2025 to 2035). Occupation code 15-1221.
Job description
About the Role
Lead perception engineering for a defense technology team developing autonomous systems. You will own the perception stack, from detection and tracking to sensor fusion, and help ensure it performs reliably on real hardware in demanding field conditions.
What You'll Do
Set the perception architecture for detection, tracking, classification, and sensor fusion.
Develop ML models and training pipelines, then deploy models to embedded devices.
Fuse EO/IR and other sensor data relevant to the system.
Optimize real-time perception performance for embedded compute and latency constraints.
Work closely with robotics, controls, and hardware engineers to deliver practical system capabilities.
Mentor perception engineers while contributing directly to implementation.
What We're Looking For
At least 5 years building and shipping perception systems on physical hardware.
Strong Python and production C++ skills, with experience in computer vision, detection, and real-time tracking on live sensor data.
Experience deploying ML models on-device with TensorRT, ONNX, or equivalent, and optimizing for embedded compute and tight latency budgets.
Experience building ML training pipelines through deployment and shipping systems tested against real-world targets.
Background in perception, robotics, autonomy, aerospace, or defense systems; research-only or offline-only experience is not a fit.
Helpful experience includes aerial target tracking, moving-camera compensation, thermal imagery, EO/IR or other sensor fusion, radar or RF perception, and small or long-range target detection.
BS, MS, PhD, or equivalent experience in computer science, electrical engineering, robotics, or a related field.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary: $190,000 to $222,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.
Location
On-site in San Francisco, California. The role includes field testing.
Source details
Source notes
Source excerptsSelected passages from the saved posting. Check the full description for conditions and exceptions.
- Pay
Compensation & Benefits Base salary: $190,000 to $222,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. Location
- Location & working pattern
San Francisco, California, United States
Location On-site in San Francisco, California. The role includes field testing.
- Work authorization
Compensation & Benefits Base salary: $190,000 to $222,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. Location