SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Applied Intuition is a $15B-valued AI infrastructure company powering physical intelligence across automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining, and agriculture. The company serves 18 of the top 20 global automakers and the U.S. military with tools, operating systems, and autonomy solutions.
You'll join the rapidly scaling defense product team in Ann Arbor as a core contributor to Axion, Applied Intuition's flagship defense data and tooling platform. This role focuses on building systems that unify developers and operators in a shared digital environment, accelerating testing, integration, and deployment across all domains. This is not a maintenance role—you'll design, implement, and own high-performance software that operates at the edge of technical possibility in environments where stakes are real.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design and implement high-performance C++ software for Axion's defense tooling and data platform
- Build and extend simulation environments and virtual worlds enabling autonomous systems testing and validation before real-world deployment
- Develop scalable infrastructure supporting multi-domain autonomous operations (unmanned ground/aerial platforms, joint-force integration)
- Partner with autonomy researchers, product teams, and defense customers to translate mission requirements into robust solutions
- Own end-to-end engineering workstreams from architecture through deployment
- Help shape team culture, technical standards, and engineering practices as the Ann Arbor site scales
- Interface with DoD programs and defense customers to ensure solutions meet operational demands
Required qualifications:
- Professional software engineering experience with strong C++ expertise
- Experience with Unreal Engine or other real-time simulation/game engines (Unity, Gazebo, custom stacks)
- Solid fundamentals in systems programming, concurrency, performance optimization, real-time rendering/simulation pipelines
- Genuine interest in simulation, autonomy, robotics, or physical AI
- Strong CS/CE/EE foundation with rigorous thinking about correctness and performance
- Python proficiency for tooling, scripting, and integration
- Comfort with ambiguity; ability to drive clarity in fast-moving, high-stakes environments
- Excellent communication skills explaining technical tradeoffs to engineers and non-technical stakeholders
- U.S. Citizenship and eligibility for U.S. Secret security clearance
Nice-to-have experience includes simulation for autonomy/robotics/gaming/defense, sensor simulation, synthetic data generation, physics-based environments, and distributed systems or real-time data pipelines in constrained environments.
Applied Intuition operates primarily in-office (5 days/week) with flexibility for occasional remote work. The company offers competitive compensation including base salary, equity (options/RSUs), comprehensive health/dental/vision/life/disability insurance, 401k with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off.
