About the Role
This role will lead the software development and architecture of a digital twin model integrating vehicle dynamics and physics, environmental, and acoustic models with measured and simulated data. The engineer will work closely with academic researchers and domain experts to transition scientific models and algorithms into maintainable software and develop simulation capabilities for evaluating UUV performance, mission concepts, and environmental interactions.
The role will also transform complex model outputs and scientific datasets into visual research demonstrations, including acoustic models, mission routes, environmental overlays, trade-space analyses, and interactive model controls. These capabilities will support exploration of mission-planning concepts such as energy efficiency, mission timing, and route optimization, with the intent to transition toward real-time UUV autonomy.
The ideal candidate combines strong software engineering with experience in modeling and simulation, scientific computing, and visualization, with additional experience in autonomy, optimization, or AI/ML highly desirable.
Primary Responsibilities
- Serve as the senior software developer and software architecture lead for a multidisciplinary applied research team.
- Lead development of a physics-based digital twin and modeling/simulation framework integrating acoustic, environmental, vehicle, and mission-level models.
- Develop and integrate UUV modeling and simulation, including vehicle performance, energy consumption, operating constraints, and mission execution.
- Transition research algorithms and prototype code into modular, maintainable software, integrating measured and simulated scientific datasets.
- Develop scientific visualizations and interactive research demonstrations to communicate model behavior, mission tradeoffs, and operational implications.
- Develop and integrate mission-planning, optimization, and AI/ML capabilities, including hybrid physics-based and data-driven approaches.
- Establish software interfaces, APIs, testing, CI/CD, documentation, and other software engineering best practices.
- Support the evolution of the architecture from research simulation and pre-mission analysis toward real-time UUV mission adaptation and autonomy.
Required Qualifications
- U.S. Citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance.
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, Engineering, or a related technical field.
- 5+ years of professional software development experience in scientific computing, modeling and simulation, robotics, or complex engineering systems.
- Strong proficiency in Python and/or C++ with experience developing modular software architectures.
- Experience with physics-based modeling, numerical simulation, and scientific datasets.
- Ability to transition research algorithms and prototype code into robust, maintainable software.
- Experience with scientific visualization and interactive model/data demonstrations.
- Familiarity with modern development practices including Git/ADO, testing, CI/CD, code review, and documentation.
- Experience with scientific computing tools such as NumPy, SciPy, Xarray, MATLAB, or equivalent frameworks.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with robotics, autonomous vehicles, UUVs/AUVs, vehicle modeling, ROS/ROS2, or other autonomous-system simulation environments.
- Experience with optimization, path planning, mission planning, operations research, or multi-objective decision-making.
- Experience with AI/ML, including PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, or integration of data-driven models with physics-based simulations.
- Experience with digital twins, Monte Carlo simulation, uncertainty analysis, or distributed simulation.
- Experience with geospatial data, GIS, environmental modeling, oceanography, underwater acoustics, or acoustic signal processing.
- Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary applied research environment, translating evolving research concepts into executable software.