Lead Engineer - Robotics & Autonomous Systems (m/f/d)

What we offer

• Work in an international, agile and ambitious team creating the future of autonomous systems
• Grow your career in a expanding and ambitious engineering team
• Build innovative products using state-of-the-art technologies in AI, robotics, and autonomy
• Benefit from a steep learning curve and continuous development
• Enjoy team events and a strong, collaborative culture

Your mission

Your Mission

• Own the technical vision, architecture and development of a complex autonomous robotics product.
• Translate operational requirements by customers into clear technical goals and engineering milestones.
• Define the technical roadmap and drive execution from concept to the field.
• Make key technical decisions across perception, sensor integration and robotics software applications.
• Lead by example through hands-on software engineering and system integration.
• Guide and mentor a multidisciplinary engineering team, fostering technical excellence and ownership.
• Challenge complexity, prioritize what matters, and focus the team on delivering the next milestone.
• Validate solutions through real-world testing and continuously improve system performance.
• Collaborate with other internal tech teams to capitalize on synergies.
• Report on and evaluate technical challenges and work closely with the CTO on solutions.

Your profile

• At least 5–6 years of experience building robotics, autonomous or real-time systems.
• You already build a successful company, product or project in a similar field.
• Strong experience in robotics perception, sensor integration and system architecture.
• Excellent C++ skills, with solid experience in ROS2, Linux and Python.
• Hands-on experience integrating sensors such as LiDAR, cameras or IMUs.
• Experience taking complex systems from concept through deployment to product.
• A hands-on technical leader who enjoys co-creation alongside the team.
• Extreme ownership mindset with the ability to make pragmatic technical decisions under uncertainty.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to drive technical discussions and align and motivate engineering teams.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment under uncertainty where execution matters more than process.
• Strong motivator, coach and servant leader and willingness to develop engineer for better.

Nice to have

• Experience with computer vision, object tracking or sensor fusion.
• Experience with embedded or edge computing platforms.
• Familiarity with GPU acceleration (CUDA, TensorRT).
• Experience with autonomous robots, drones or autonomous vehicles.
• Background in safety-critical or high-performance systems.

What else

• Citizenship of a NATO member country or close ally.
• Willingsness to work onsite in Munich and to travel.

Why us?

• Own the technical direction of a cutting-edge robotics product.
• Work on challenging engineering problems with real-world impact.
• Stay hands-on while shaping architecture and technical strategy.
• Test and iterate on real robotic systems, not just simulations.
• Join a team that values ownership, fast execution and building systems that work.

About us

The world is changing. Exponential technologies are enabling new types of security threats. ATS is committed to staying ahead by building nimble, scalable, and cost-effective defences. We are looking for passionate team members who are eager to create exceptional products, safeguard our freedom, and strengthen the resilience of democracies.

Who we are: Autonomous Teaming is a defence-tech start-up specializing in machine vision solutions. Driven by cutting-edge innovation, our team works on next-generation technologies designed to meet rapidly evolving security challenges.

What we do: We develop systems that enable computers and sensors to operate as coordinated teams, collaborating in real time to counter AI-powered asymmetric threats at scale — including drone swarms and other UXVs. Our mission is to build resilient, intelligent defence capabilities that perform reliably in the most demanding environments.

How we work: We value close, in-person collaboration as the foundation for building complex, high-impact technology, while maintaining flexibility aligned to role and team needs. Our culture is built on ownership, responsibility, and trust — with a shared commitment to growing and building together.

Where we are: Based in Munich, Berlin, and Toulouse, we are expanding rapidly across Europe with plans to open additional office hubs.