Back to jobs
New

Perception Simulation Engineer II/III

United States

At Zone 5 Technologies, we're redefining what's possible in unmanned aircraft systems. Our team of engineers and innovators is developing cutting-edge autonomous solutions that push the boundaries of UAS technology - solving complex challenges that matter.

We're building the future of UAS capabilities, and we're looking for exceptional talent to join us. If you're driven by hard problems, energized by rapid innovation, and ready to make an impact on next-generation flight systems, you belong here.

We are looking for a Perception Simulation Engineer to build the sensor-simulation and synthetic-data backbone of our Unreal Engine simulation environment. Where a general mission-simulation engineer builds worlds and vehicle dynamics, this role is focused specifically on making simulated perception good enough to develop and validate real perception and target-tracking software before flight — high-fidelity RGB and thermal (IR) camera models, sensor feeds streamed onto ROS 2 topics, and synthetic data pipelines that feed our detection, tracking, and Target State Estimation (TSE) stacks. 

You will work at the seam between the Unreal Engine and perception pipelines, turning "we can render a scene" into "we can trust the perception numbers coming out of the sim." This is a foundational effort. 

We welcome both generalists and specialists—you do not need every skill listed below. 

Responsibilities: 

Synthetic Sensor Modeling (core of the role) 

  • Build high-fidelity RGB and long-wave IR (thermal) camera models in Unreal Engine, and render both views from platform-mounted cameras. 
  • Tune simulated camera output to match (or closely approximate) real-world camera performance — FOV, resolution, framerate, thermal response — driven by the specs of the sensors we actually fly (e.g. FLIR Boson / Boson+ LWIR). 
  • Implement realistic sensor noise, artifacts, motion blur, and failure modes so perception software is tested against hard cases, not clean renders. 
  • Support camera articulation independent of vehicle orientation (gimbal/boresight), so control-envelope requirements can be derived directly from camera specs. 

ROS 2 Integration 

  • Publish simulated camera imagery and sensor data onto ROS 2 topics using the shared strive_msgs / strive_interfaces contracts, so the same interface serves sim and hardware. 
  • Implement and test developer contracts and fulfill deterministic simulation requirements. 
  • Feed the perception pipeline and downstream Target State Estimation (TSE) with simulated sensor streams and ground-truth labels for evaluation. 

Synthetic Data & Target Simulation 

  • Build synthetic-data generation and export pipelines (imagery + bounding boxes / segmentation / range + pose ground truth) suitable for training and evaluating detection, tracking, and TSE models. 
  • Implement target injection: spawn and drive targets (vehicles, people, infrastructure) with configurable motion, including dynamic add/remove during a running mission to simulate delayed deployments and dynamic scenarios. 
  • Support target-hint / track integration based on ground based sensor tracking and ground-truth generation for scoring TSE accuracy (position/velocity/acceleration error). 

Asset & Scenario Pipeline 

  • Own the process to import external target CAD (e.g. TurboSquid) and Zone 5 platform CAD into the sim as usable, correctly-scaled models. 
  • Manage the 3D asset pipeline (models, materials, thermal material properties for the IR view). 
  • Enforce scenario-driven rules that need perception ground truth — e.g. inter-platform/target proximity and fratricide detection (position of each entity per timestep, squared-distance comparison against a scenario parameter for performance). 

Performance & Scale 

  • Optimize rendering for real-time and accelerated modes; build headless simulation modes for large-scale parallel scenario execution. 
  • Collaborate with the platform team to run perception sim in CI/CD for continuous evaluation of perception/TSE software. 

Qualifications: 

  • Bachelor's in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Game Development, or related field — equivalent industry experience welcome. 
  • 3–6+ years developing in Unreal Engine with C++, including custom plugins/modules. 
  • Working knowledge of ROS 2 and integrating it with a simulation environment. 
  • Solid grounding in 3D graphics, real-time rendering, and camera/sensor models — projection, FOV, framerate, noise, and how they affect a downstream vision algorithm. 
  • Practical understanding of camera-based perception (detection/tracking) and what makes synthetic imagery useful (or useless) for developing it. 
  • Comfortable with software architecture, design patterns, and collaborative version-control workflows. 

Preferred: 

  • Experience building sensor simulation for robotics/autonomous vehicles, especially thermal/IR or multi-modal (EO/IR/lidar/radar) sensing. 
  • Familiarity with synthetic data generation for ML perception (labels, sim-to-real gap, domain randomization). 
  • Knowledge of state estimation / multi-target tracking (Kalman/EKF, track-to-track association) enough to build meaningful TSE test scenarios. 
  • Experience with edge perception deployment (NVIDIA Jetson, TensorRT) and matching sim interfaces to on-target interfaces. 
  • Familiarity with UAV flight dynamics (JSBSim/PX4 SITL), gimbal/boresight modeling, and camera-on-platform geometry. 
  • GPU programming / compute shaders; procedural terrain or environment generation. 
  • Python for tooling and data-pipeline automation; Blueprint for rapid prototyping. 
  • 3D asset workflows (Blender/Maya) or photogrammetry; distributed/networked simulation. 
  • CI/CD for game-engine projects; deterministic / real-time simulation experience. 

Pay range for this role

$145,000 - $175,000 USD

What's in it for you:

Benefits: 

  • Competitive total compensation package 
  • Comprehensive benefit package options include medical, dental, vision, life, and more.
  • 401k with company-match 
  • 4 weeks of paid time off each year
  • 12 annual company holidays

Why Join Zone 5 Technologies?

  • Innovative Environment: Work on cutting-edge technology that is shaping the future of defense and aerospace.
  • Collaborative Culture: Join a team of passionate professionals dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
  • Career Growth: Opportunities for professional development and career advancement.

If you are passionate about unmanned aircraft technology and want to be a part of a dynamic and growing company, we would love to hear from you. Apply today and join the Zone 5 Technologies team! 

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

Zone 5 Technologies is a federal contractor and participates in E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility. As required by law, we will verify the identity and employment authorization of all new employees using the E-Verify system. Learn more about your rights and responsibilities under E-Verify: https://www.e-verify.gov.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...

Work Authorization

Select...

Sponsorship

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Zone 5 Technologies’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.