Edison Smart®

Autonomy Software Engineer (Rust / Python)

Must be based in Germany | English-speaking team | 12-month contract

About the company

Our client is a well-funded European deep-tech company that builds autonomous systems for demanding, real-world environments. Their engineering culture is built on reliability, collaboration and turning cutting-edge research into systems that actually operate in the field.

The opportunity

You’ll build the decision-making core of a new autonomous platform designed from the ground up. You’ll integrate reinforcement learning agents into high-performance runtime systems so the platform can perceive, reason and act on its own in real time. Your work will go from simulation through hardware-in-the-loop testing to live trials.

What you’ll work on

• Building reliable pipelines that run from sensor data through RL inference to execution, including handling edge cases and failure modes
• Connecting Python-based RL agents to Rust runtime systems for low-latency, reproducible inference
• Distributed systems and communications that cope with intermittent connectivity and bespoke hardware protocols
• Training infrastructure: distributed training, evaluation pipelines and large-scale runs on custom simulators
• Maintaining and improving a Rust and Python stack, cutting technical debt and raising reliability and performance
• Growing the test and benchmark suite, from unit level to HIL simulation and live testing
• Reviewing code, proposals and RFCs to keep standards high for safety-critical software
• Mentoring colleagues and helping shape the interview process

What you’ll bring

• Strong backend or embedded development experience, ideally in Rust (Go or C++ also considered)
• Confidence working in Python on ML-heavy code
• Clean, maintainable, high-performance code
• Comfort with asynchronous working (PRs, RFCs, written discussion)
• A collaborative approach, including code review and pair programming on complex hardware and software integration
• Fluent English, written and spoken
• A view that ethical considerations are part of engineering

Nice to have

• Rust and Python together in production
• Experience deploying RL or ML agents in real-world systems
• Safety-critical programming experience
• Familiarity with low-level control systems and their interfaces
• Sensor integration (IMU, GPS, lidar, cameras) and sensor fusion for navigation
• Robotics or control systems backgroundProduction ML systems
• Hardware interfacing (e.g. microcontrollers)

Why apply

• Work on a novel autonomous system that leaves the lab
• A mix of state-of-the-art research and real-world engineering
• A strong learning culture with tech talks, study groups and mentoring

The client actively encourages applications from under-represented groups, even if you don’t meet every requirement listed.