Network Engineer

Company background

Swarmbotics AI is a low-cost, swarm robotics company for industry and defense.  We see a world of ubiquitous low-cost robots transforming almost all aspects of society, but we see an urgent need in the defense industry.  We focus on building swarms of robots that incorporate a low-cost BOM, an autonomous stack optimized for off the shelf components, and a global planner that enables swarm capabilities for groups of robots to accomplish sophisticated tasks.  

Our first product is a defense application building Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), collectively termed - Attritable, Networked, Tactical Swarm (ANTS).  Each UGV in ANTS is an independently-tasked, attritable robot designed for on-demand and autonomous mobility.  When operating as a swarm, ANTS is capable of executing more advanced and coordinated, high-level capabilities across a battlespace.  ANTS will help solve some of the DoD’s biggest problems that will save lives and increase defense capabilities.

Stephen Houghton and Drew Watson are the Founders and have decades of experience in self-driving cars and trucks, humanoids, and UAVs with experience from NASA, JPL, Cruise, Embark, McKinsey, Amazon, and the CIA.  

Job description

Swarmbotics is on the forefront of deploying unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) swarms for defense applications and is seeking a highly skilled Network Engineer to join our dynamic team. This role is critical in designing, implementing, testing, and maintaining the network infrastructure that supports reliable communication between our unmanned ground vehicles and their control systems. The ideal candidate will specialize in network architecture, mesh radio communication systems, mobile satellite communication, VPNs, and secure data transmission, ensuring robust and low-latency communication across large-scale robotic swarms – often in contested environments. The selected candidate will have the opportunity to build and optimize a modern network implementation for a large-scale ground robot swarm

Required qualifications

• Network Architecture: Experience designing and implementing network architectures tailored for large-scale robotic systems, including both wired and wireless communication solutions.
• Radio Communication Systems: Proficiency in configuring and optimizing ground radio communication systems, including experience with various radio frequencies and satellite communication systems. Experience with mesh radios (e.g. MANET) in an ad hoc, ground-to-ground context is highly desirable.
• Network Security: Experience with secure communication protocols and encryption methods to protect data integrity and confidentiality in defense-related applications.
• Fault Management: Experience in designing systems for fault detection and recovery in network and radio communication systems, enhancing reliability under various operational conditions.
• Performance Optimization: Expertise in optimizing network and radio systems for low-latency, high-reliability communication across challenging and dynamic environments.
• Comfortable working in the high-paced, fluid environment of a tech startup.
• Excited to contribute to the defense of the United States and its allies.
• Able to obtain and hold a U.S. security clearance.
• Ability to work onsite in Phoenix, AZ area.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with unmanned ground vehicles or robotic swarms.
• Experience with Starlink
• Experience with RF engineering.
• Strong background in network configuration tools and scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash).
• Proven track record of implementing network solutions in real-world robotics applications.

The preceding description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required for the position.  Swarmbotics is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, caste, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law.

The preceding description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required for the position. Swarmbotics is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, caste, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law.