Senior Robotics Engineer – Decision-Making, Autonomous Robotics

About SteerAI

SteerAI is an autonomous mobility technology company powered by VentureOne, the commercialization arm of the Advanced Technology Research Council. SteerAI’s advanced AI-powered autonomy stack, developed by the Technology Innovation Institute, empowers the logistics and defense industries by turning industrial vehicles into autonomous powerhouses that can handle complex off-road missions, transforming operations and protecting organizations' most important assets: Their workforce.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a Senior Robotics Engineer – Decision-Making to design and develop intelligent behavior frameworks for our autonomous ground vehicles. This role is at the core of our autonomy stack, blending classical decision logic with learning-based models to support reliable, interpretable, and scalable robotic behavior across diverse environments and vehicle platforms.

You’ll work cross-functionally to deliver robust, modular behavior architectures that enable our robots to make high-quality decisions in real-world, dynamic missions.

What You’ll Do

• Develop hybrid decision-making systems combining rule-based logic and learning-based models.
• Design scalable behavior trees and state machines adaptable to various vehicle dynamics and operational goals.
• Build modular behavior blocks to support reusability, maintainability, and high-performance mission logic.
• Tackle complex multi-option behavior scenarios with robust arbitration and safety logic.
• Collaborate with planning, perception, and systems teams to ensure smooth integration.
• Evaluate and compare classical and ML-based decision methods for safety, performance, and interpretability.
• Support field testing and real-time validation of decision modules.
• Create and maintain robust unit and integration tests, including CI/CD pipeline integration.
• Write high-quality documentation to support cross-team understanding and long-term maintainability.
• Work in a Linux/ROS2 environment using C++, Python, and containerized tooling.

What You Bring

• Strong background in robotics decision-making systems, including utility-based frameworks, state machines, and behavior trees.
• Experience integrating AI-based planning approaches with classical decision frameworks.
• Solid experience in autonomous systems or multi-agent robotics.
• Proficient in C++, Python, ROS2, and simulation/field testing workflows.
• Hands-on familiarity with debugging/profiling tools like gdb, valgrind, and gperftools.
• Comfortable working with Docker, Git, and agile tools like Jira.
• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

Nice to Have

• Experience with map-based constraint-aware decision logic.
• Exposure to CARLA, Gazebo, or Unity-based simulators.
• Familiarity with GPU acceleration (CUDA, TensorRT).
• Background in multi-agent coordination or swarm robotics.

What We Offer

We offer a competitive salary, a comprehensive benefits package, and the opportunity to work alongside some of the brightest minds in the Autonomous Robotics industry. Our work culture is collaborative and inclusive, with a strong focus on innovation and personal growth.

If you’re excited about building decision-making systems that shape the real-world behavior of autonomous robots—we’d love to hear from you.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.