Vision Systems Engineer in San Francisco, California at Exploration Technology Group

About etc.

etc, the Exploration Technology Corp, is a team of techno-optimists and explorers. We are motivated by the challenge of solving tough engineering problems, committed to creating sustainable change, and driven by a curiosity to explore and understand both our natural world and the universe.

For decades, the tools and technologies developed for spaceflight, defense, and exploration have not only helped us expand our understanding of the universe but have also supported human advancement here on Earth. We carry this legacy forward, knowing that innovation in these areas can lead to solutions that help people everywhere.

At etc, we are actively developing cutting-edge exploration and defense missions — including space-based IR sensing and interceptor systems. If you join the team, you will have the opportunity to work on hardware and software for US Department of Defense missions, NASA programs, and much more.

We're hiring a hands-on Vision Systems Engineer to own the detection, tracking, and target discrimination software stack for a space-based IR sensing program supporting US national security missions. Your job is the vision algorithms: turning LWIR imagery into high-confidence track and guidance outputs in real time, on embedded space hardware, in demanding engagement environments.

What You'll Do

You will own the vision software stack that enables autonomous terminal guidance for a national security space mission. This means building and validating the full pipeline from detection through tracking, state estimation, and discrimination, running on embedded space hardware under hard real-time constraints.

• Target Detection and Clutter Suppression: Design and implement adaptive detection algorithms against Earth-background and cold-space clutter, including background estimation, non-uniformity compensation, and track-before-detect approaches for high-velocity terminal engagement geometries.
• Multi-Target Tracking and State Estimation: Design and implement multi-target tracking systems — track initiation, maintenance, correlation, and termination — using Kalman filters (EKF, UKF), IMM filters, and advanced data association methods (JPDA, MHT), generating the full terminal guidance output suite: LOS angles and rates (Az/El) for proportional navigation, target position and relative velocity, range and range rate, predicted intercept point, track confidence and lock flag, and discrimination confidence for GNC handoff.
• Target Discrimination: Develop and train lightweight CNN classifiers for target vs. decoy discrimination using radiometric imagery, optimized for real-time embedded inference via quantization, pruning, or equivalent techniques, with full synthetic and real data pipelines for training and validation.
• Simulation Integration and Validation: Integrate algorithms into an existing end-to-end IR scene simulation framework, develop thermal signature models for synthetic training data, conduct Monte Carlo analysis and hardware-in-the-loop validation, and own performance verification against program requirements.
• Signal Chain & Electronics Integration: Define detector readout architectures, work with analog and digital electronics teams on ROIC interfaces, low-noise signal chains, and high-speed data paths to on-board processors
• Image Processing & Embedded Algorithms: Develop real-time image processing pipelines — non-uniformity correction, bad pixel replacement, background suppression, track-before-detect — on embedded FPGA and GPU platforms
• Performance Modeling & Test: Build end-to-end radiometric and noise models (NEDT, D*, SNR, clutter metrics), develop test plans, and execute lab and field characterization campaigns.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field. Advanced degree preferred for senior applicants.

Experience:

• 5+ years of professional experience in IR sensor systems, electro-optical payloads, or space-based imaging, preferably in defense, missile defense, or national security space programs

Technical Skills:

• Strong theoretical and practical experience with state estimation: Kalman filters (EKF, UKF), multi-target tracking concepts, and data association (JPDA, MHT, nearest neighbor)
• Proficiency in algorithm development in MATLAB and/or Python with demonstrated experience transitioning to C++ for production deployment
• Experience training and deploying CNNs or lightweight ML classifiers for real-time embedded inference
• Experience with modeling, simulation, and testing workflows including Monte Carlo analysis, sensor data playback, or hardware-in-the-loop environments
• Proficiency in radiometric modeling and performance analysis (NEDT, D*, MTF, SNR, background-limited performance)
• Signal processing and algorithm development for detection and tracking (C/C++, Python, MATLAB)