Senior Robotics Software Engineer

Sphere Defense is a fully funded technology startup with the mission of providing allied countries with sovereign, effective and seamless autonomous countermeasures to neutralize today's and tomorrow's aerial threats.

Sphere Defense was founded by industry veterans with previous successful exits, and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the heart of Europe.

About you

You are an experienced and highly motivated Senior Robotics Engineer that has worked with autonomous systems with visual perception. Ideally, you have worked on flying vehicles.

What you’ll do

You will shape the software & perception architecture, design and implementation for our autonomous, flying countermeasures.

• Be one of the first members of a high-performing team, designing and developing autonomous countermeasures to protect allied countries from aerial threats
• Own, design, develop, document and test high-performing and reliable autonomous systems, design and implement algorithms and software running on resource-constrained devices (Linux-based)
• Identify, integrate and test sensors, including cameras, for autonomous flying countermeasures
• Build high-fidelity simulations and digital twins for offline and online scenarios
• Be hands‑on, working close to the hardware when needed during development and tests
• Establish CI/CD pipelines for non-regression testing and automated builds
• Draft and review documentation and design documents
• Be a team player and a mentor, being available to support and grow the team when needed

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Robotics, Mechatronics, Control Systems, Computer Science or equivalent
• Demonstrated experience in the role, with significant ownership of one or more subsystems of complex, robotics products
• Proficiency with C++ for production systems and Python for prototypes
• Experience with ROS2 or other middleware
• Proficiency with state estimation techniques, perception, sensor fusion and autonomy
• Experience using simulation and visualization environments for robotics (Rviz, Foxglove, Gazebo, etc.)
• Exposure to electro‑mechanical systems integration
• Ability to quickly prototype independently, using off-the-shelf electronic components/boards and 3D printed components
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills in written and spoken English; French or Dutch is a plus
• You are a self‑starter, able to work in a high‑ambiguity environment and willing to take up new challenges

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficient with Rust
• Experience with the PX4 flight controller or other flight controllers
• Experience selecting sensors (thermal, RGB cameras, laser rangefinders, IMUs, etc.) and actuators (servo motors, geared motors)
• Experience with drones, missiles, rockets or other flying vehicles
• Experience with one of the following: VIO/SLAM, ML model training, reinforcement learning

What we offer

We are building a core team of hard‑working people. If you want to join a company with tremendous impact and you are autonomous, creative and driven, we want to hear from you!

Sphere Defense offers attractive compensation, stock options (depending on geography and position) and a unique opportunity to change the global defense landscape.

• Interview with our recruiter (45 minutes)
• Technical interview with our CTO (1 hour)
• Culture‑add interview with our founders (1 hour)
• Prior to receiving an offer of employment, we will need to conduct a light background check

This role is only open to candidates with right to work in Belgium. We cannot provide visa sponsorship at this time.

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