Perception Engineer job description template
A perception engineer builds the part of an autonomous system that turns raw sensor data into a model of the surrounding world — what is there, where it is, and how it is moving. The output feeds planning and control, so the role is judged on reliability and latency as much as accuracy.
Before you post
Name the platform and the sensor suite explicitly — perception candidates evaluate roles on what hardware they will get to work with, and a vague listing reads as an early-stage team without real data. If you have a fleet, logged data at scale, or good simulation infrastructure, say so: those are among the strongest recruiting arguments available to you.
The template
About the role
We are hiring a perception engineer to build the systems that let [platform] understand its environment. You will work across [sensor suite] to produce the world model that our planning stack depends on.
What you will do
- Develop and improve perception components for detection, tracking and scene understanding
- Fuse data across [camera / LiDAR / radar] into a consistent world model
- Profile and optimise the pipeline to meet real-time budgets on [target hardware]
- Build evaluation and regression tooling over logged data and simulation
- Investigate field failures and turn them into test cases
What we are looking for
- Strong modern C++ and Python
- Experience with 3D geometry, coordinate transforms and sensor calibration
- Perception experience on a real robotic or automotive platform
- Comfort working within latency and compute constraints
Keep this list to three to five items. Long mandatory lists disproportionately deter the candidates you most want.
Nice to have
- ROS 2 experience
- TensorRT or equivalent inference optimisation
- Exposure to functional safety practice (ISO 26262 or similar)
- Simulation and scenario testing experience
Plain text version
Select all and paste into your ATS, then replace everything in brackets.
PERCEPTION ENGINEER ABOUT THE ROLE We are hiring a perception engineer to build the systems that let [platform] understand its environment. You will work across [sensor suite] to produce the world model that our planning stack depends on. WHAT YOU WILL DO - Develop and improve perception components for detection, tracking and scene understanding - Fuse data across [camera / LiDAR / radar] into a consistent world model - Profile and optimise the pipeline to meet real-time budgets on [target hardware] - Build evaluation and regression tooling over logged data and simulation - Investigate field failures and turn them into test cases WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR - Strong modern C++ and Python - Experience with 3D geometry, coordinate transforms and sensor calibration - Perception experience on a real robotic or automotive platform - Comfort working within latency and compute constraints NICE TO HAVE - ROS 2 experience - TensorRT or equivalent inference optimisation - Exposure to functional safety practice (ISO 26262 or similar) - Simulation and scenario testing experience ABOUT US [Two or three sentences on the company, the product, and why the problem matters.] DETAILS - Location: [city / hybrid / remote] - Salary: [range] - Apply: [link]
Calibrating the level
Adjust the requirements to match the level you are actually hiring for. Asking for senior capability at a mid-level budget is the most common cause of a stalled search.
Junior
Implements and tunes perception components against recorded data under supervision.
Mid
Owns a sensor modality or a stage of the pipeline and debugs it against real logs.
Senior
Designs the perception architecture, decides the fusion strategy, and owns the failure analysis.
Staff / Principal
Accountable for whether the perception stack is safe enough to deploy, and can defend that position.
Post it where the right people are
JobsInVision is a computer vision job board — your listing reaches engineers who work in this field specifically, rather than a general software audience.