Simulation Engineer
Senior Simulation Engineer – NODA AI
Location: Austin, TX (Hybrid on-site, with up to 10% travel)
Clearance Requirement: U.S. Citizen with the ability to obtain a security clearance
About NODA
NODA is a veteran-owned, venture-backed technology company transforming how unmanned systems collaborate in complex, mission-critical environments. Our distributed orchestration platform enables autonomous coordination of heterogeneous unmanned systems across air, sea, land, and space with vital applications in the defense, intelligence, and commercial sectors.
We are building autonomy layers that allow vehicles from multiple domains to operate in synchronized, adaptive, and resilient ways. Simulation is a foundational capability at NODA, used not only for testing, but for system design, mission rehearsal, integration validation, and customer-facing demonstrations.
The Role
We are seeking a Senior Simulation Engineer to own and advance NODA’s simulation capabilities as a first-class platform component. This role is responsible for designing and evolving simulation environments that accelerate internal development while also supporting customer-facing mission planning, demonstrations, and deployments.
You will build and maintain a ROS 2–based, multi-domain simulation environment that exercises real execution paths across autonomy, mission planning, communications, and data capture systems. Your work will enable engineers to validate behavior before field deployment, help mission leads to rehearse complex operations, and ensure simulations meaningfully reflect real-world operational constraints.
This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role for a specialist who understands how simulation drives real-world delivery, not just visualization of fidelity.
Key Responsibilities
Design, develop, and maintain multi-vehicle simulation environments spanning air, ground, and maritime domains using ROS 2–based tooling.
Own and evolve NODA’s core simulation platform, ensuring it supports engineering development, integration testing, mission rehearsal, and demonstrations.
Implement realistic sensor models, including EO/IR, LiDAR, radar, and sonar, with attention to accuracy, performance, and extensibility.
Model network and communications effects such as latency, packet loss, bandwidth constraints, and intermittent connectivity.
Integrate simulation with autonomy stacks, mission planning systems, and data capture pipelines to exercise real system behavior end to end.
Support software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop workflows consistent with industry practices in defense and autonomous systems.
Consume and extend existing NODA development templates and infrastructure to maintain consistency across repositories.
Collaborate closely with autonomy engineers, systems engineers, mission leads, and field operations to align simulation outputs with deployment and demo needs.
Contribute to architectural decisions that enable interoperability with large-scale or partner simulation systems without creating internal dependency.
Design simulation components that interoperate with external simulation ecosystems while maintaining internal ownership and flexibility.
Required Qualifications
5+ years of professional experience in simulation engineering, robotics, autonomy, or related systems engineering roles.
Strong experience with ROS 2 and robotics simulation environments (e.g., Gazebo or similar).
Proficiency in C++ and/or Python for simulation development and systems integration.
Hands-on experience modeling sensors, vehicle dynamics, and environmental effects.
Solid understanding of networking fundamentals and their impact on distributed autonomous systems.
Demonstrated ability to build simulation systems that support real-world validation and deployment.
U.S. Citizenship with the ability to obtain a security clearance.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with multi-vehicle or multi-agent simulation environments.
Background in autonomous vehicles, robotics, aerospace, maritime systems, or defense technology.
Experience integrating simulation with mission planning, autonomy, or control systems.
Familiarity with simulation-in-the-loop or hardware-in-the-loop validation workflows.
Exposure to large-scale or distributed simulation systems.
Experience supporting customer-facing demonstrations, exercises, or operational deployments.
Skills & Attributes
Systems thinker who understands how simulation fits into a broader autonomy and deployment pipeline.
Pragmatic engineer who balances fidelity, performance, and development velocity.
Comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-evolving environments with evolving requirements.
Collaborative team player who works effectively across autonomy, platform, and field teams.
Strong sense of ownership and accountability for technical outcomes.
What We Offer
• Hybrid work environment
• Competitive pay
• Flexible time off
• Generous PTO policy
• Federal holidays
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Free OneMedical membership
Growth Path at NODA
Simulation Engineer – Owns one or more simulation modules or sensor domains; develops validated environments that support operational test objectives.
Senior Simulation Engineer – Own at least one simulation product and mentor junior engineers
Staff Simulation Engineer – Advise leadership on modeling and simulation architecture and roadmap
Principal Simulation Engineer – Define long-term roadmap for modeling and simulation, establishing company-wide standards for infrastructure
Final leveling will be determined at the offer stage based on demonstrated scope, impact, and technical leadership.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified individuals will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, age, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.