Director of AI Core Software

Join Merlin, a cutting-edge aerospace startup, as the Director of AI Core Software. In this role, you will define and drive the technical strategy for our AI Core platform, lead a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, and collaborate with executive leadership to translate company objectives into achievable technical roadmaps. You will own the architecture of the AI Core stack, establish engineering standards, and ensure compliance with FAA and regulatory requirements. Additionally, you will drive integration between AI Core components and broader avionics and vehicle management systems, recruit senior engineering talent, and represent the AI Core team in cross-functional planning and stakeholder communications.

- You are a technically deep software leader who has shipped production AI or autonomy systems in a safety-critical domain. You thrive at the intersection of rigorous engineering and ambitious product vision, and you know how to build and motivate world-class teams working on hard, long-horizon problems
- You hold yourself and your team to the highest standards of software quality and safety — not because the process demands it, but because you genuinely care about the integrity of what you build
- You're equally comfortable reviewing a pull request, debating system architecture, and presenting a roadmap to the executive team
- You want your work to matter, and there's nothing more meaningful to you than putting reliable autonomous systems into the sky
- Strong command of modern software engineering practices including AI model distillation, MLOps, CI/CD, rigorous testing strategies, and design-for-safety principles
- Experience in deploying end-to-end Data strategy to collect, ingest and curate the data for AI model training, simulation and edge deployment
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in Physical AI technical leadership and engineering management roles
- Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Math, or a related subject
- Proficiency in Pytorch, TensorFlow and C++ (or equivalent systems languages used in real-time embedded environments)
- Proven track record of shipping production grade AI based autonomy in a safety-critical, deterministic and highly regulated environment (aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical, or similar)
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to document complex technical decisions clearly and concisely
- Comfort operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous startup environment where priorities and requirements evolve
- Deep expertise in at least one of: real-time perception and sensor fusion, motion planning and control, large-scale next gen AI model training and deployment, or onboard inference systems
- Ability to define and communicate architectural decisions across organizational boundaries, including to non-technical stakeholders
- Experience managing the managers, senior engineers and staff-level technical contributors, including performance management and career development
- Experience with airborne hardware platforms, embedded Linux, or real-time operating systems (RTOS)
- Familiarity with simulation-based validation, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, or digital twin development
- Background in vehicle dynamics, vehicle control systems, or avionics/Automotive software integration
- Published research or significant contributions to open-source projects in autonomy, robotics, or machine learning
- Prior experience at a Series A–C deep tech startup
- Pilot's license or meaningful hands-on experience with aircraft operations