Lead, Mission Autonomy

Hermeus is a venture-backed defense aviation company reclaiming the lost art of rapid iterative prototyping to build the fastest aircraft in the world today. By prioritizing relentless hardware iteration, we deliver high-speed systems at the pace of the modern battlefield. We work with the Department of War to provide the high-speed capabilities our nation and its allies need to maintain a durable, asymmetric advantage.

The Lead, Mission Autonomy is responsible for delivering reliable, repeatable mission behavior for the aircraft by developing, integrating, and validating mission autonomy capabilities that reside within the Mission Management System (MMS). This role owns the mission-level decision logic, behavior sequencing, and autonomy functions within the MMS, and their coupling to the Vehicle Management System (VMS), onboard sensors, avionics, and ground command-and-control systems. 

This role focuses on how, when, and in what order the aircraft is commanded to act to accomplish mission objectives. It ensures that mission autonomy capabilities within the MMS correctly orchestrate vehicle actions via the VMS across all phases of operation, enabling complex, end-to-end mission execution. 

As a first-level people leader, the Lead, Mission Autonomy provides technical leadership and execution ownership for engineers working on mission autonomy software, avionics integration, and mission behavior. This role remains hands-on while also owning integration, test readiness, and mission execution outcomes. 

• Own end-to-end technical outcomes for mission autonomy capabilities within the MMS, from design through integration, test, and flight readiness 
• Lead the development and integration of mission-level decision-making and behavior sequencing within the MMS, tightly coupling autonomy functions with the Vehicle Management System (VMS), integrating sensor and perception systems to support mission behavior, and enabling execution of complex mission flows across multiple flight phases
• Define, implement, and validate interfaces between MMS autonomy components, VMS, avionics, sensors, and ground systems 
• Lead development of aircraft-specific autonomy extensions, orchestration logic, and integration software within the MMS required to enable mission-ready operation 
• Drive autonomy-related avionics and sensor integration and system bring-up as required 
• Ensure mission autonomy behavior is reliable, repeatable, and compatible with operational workflows across ground and flight test environments 
• Own autonomy integration testing, validation strategies, and participation in ground and flight test campaigns 
• Identify system-level mission behavior and integration risks early and lead mitigation across software, avionics, sensor, and vehicle interfaces 
• Provide day-to-day technical leadership, mentorship, and feedback to engineers within the Mission Autonomy scope 
• Coordinate closely with the Air Segment, Ground Segment, and Flight Sciences / VMS teams to resolve dependencies, integration challenges, and interface issues
• Communicate autonomy integration status, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to engineering leadership and program stakeholders Define, implement, and validate interfaces between mission autonomy, the airborne mission platform (MMS), sensors, avionics, and ground systems

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field 
• 5+ years of experience working with autonomy, mission systems, avionics, or mission-critical vehicle software 
• Experience developing or integrating mission-level software within a larger system-of-systems architecture 
• Experience interfacing autonomy or mission software with vehicle management or control systems through well-defined interfaces 
• Strong understanding of mission systems, autonomy architectures, and system integration 
• Experience integrating sensors and perception systems into operational workflows 
• Demonstrated ability to own and deliver system-level behavior on a vehicle platform 
• Proven ability to lead technical execution across multidisciplinary teams 
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced development and test environment 
• Strong communication skills and ability to make and defend technical decisions 

• Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant technical discipline 
• Experience integrating commercial or government-provided autonomy solutions into a mission system 
• Familiarity with Mission Management Systems (MMS), Vehicle Management Systems (VMS), and autonomy orchestration frameworks 
• Experience with autonomy system validation, test frameworks, and operational evaluation 
• Background in aerospace, defense, or autonomous vehicle programs 
• Prior experience as a technical lead or first-level people leader 
• Experience working across geographically distributed teams 

U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS 

The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. US persons include U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending. 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Hermeus is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions at Hermeus are based solely on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.