Machine Learning / Perception Engineer

Who is Recruiting from Scratch : Recruiting from Scratch is a specialized talent firm dedicated to helping companies build exceptional teams. We partner closely with our clients to deeply understand their needs, then connect them with top-tier candidates who are not only highly skilled but also the right fit for the company's culture and vision. Our mission is simple : place the best people in the right roles to drive long-term success for both clients and candidates.

Title of Role : Machine Learning / Perception Engineer

Location : Phoenix, AZ (On-site; relocation required)

Company Stage of Funding : Early-Stage, Venture-Backed

Office Type : On-site, Full-Time

Salary : 160,000 - 200,000 + Equity

Company Description We're representing a defense technology company advancing the frontier of autonomous swarm robotics. The team is building attritable, networked, tactical swarms of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) capable of executing coordinated missions across complex and unstructured environments.

Led by seasoned founders with backgrounds spanning autonomous vehicles, robotics, and aerospace, the company is applying cutting-edge machine learning and edge AI to some of the most challenging problems in defense autonomy.

What You Will Do As a Machine Learning / Perception Engineer , you'll play a pivotal role in developing the perception and navigation systems that power off-road autonomous vehicles. You will :

Design, implement, train, and test advanced ML models, including : Deep computer vision models

Dense disparity prediction models

Reinforcement learning models

Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models

Object detection and panoptic segmentation models

Optimize models for real-time deployment on edge devices (e.g., Jetson Orin) using quantization and distillation.

Deploy trained models in the field for live testing and iteration.

Write robust, production-quality code in Python, PyTorch, and C++ .

Collaborate with SLAM, navigation, tracking, and swarm intelligence teams to deliver integrated autonomy.

Ideal Background 2+ years of industry experience in ML-related fields.

Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, engineering, or a related field.

Strong mathematical foundation in neural networks, transformers, convolutional networks, and statistics .

Proficiency with Python, PyTorch, C++, ROS, ONNX, TensorRT .

Familiarity with modern ML and computer vision tools (OpenCV, NumPy, Pillow).

Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to work across teams in a fast-paced startup environment .

Excitement about contributing to defense-focused autonomy systems .

Eligible to work on export-controlled projects.

Willingness to relocate to Phoenix, AZ .

Compensation and Benefits Salary : Competitive, commensurate with experience

Equity : Meaningful early-stage ownership stake

Work Setup : On-site in Phoenix, AZ (relocation support available)

Other Benefits : Direct ownership of ML systems deployed in the field

Opportunity to work across defense autonomy, robotics, and swarm AI

Collaborative, mission-driven environment with mentorship from robotics and aerospace leaders

This role is ideal for engineers who thrive at the intersection of machine learning and robotics, want to build perception systems that work in the real world, and are excited to contribute to the next generation of defense autonomy.

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