Senior Applied Research Engineer, 3D Computer Vision

DroneDeploy

Senior Applied Research Engineer at DroneDeploy pushing the frontier of reality capture with modern 3D reconstruction approaches. Transforming academic models into production-grade reality capture workflows.

Posted 6/17/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesSeniorWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudDockerGoogle Cloud PlatformKubernetesPyTorchSDLCTensorflow

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design, train, evaluate, and ship 3D reconstruction systems across our pipeline — gaussian splats, foundation 3D models, SfM, MVS, monocular depth, mesh reconstruction.
Drive integration of modern reality capture approaches (splatting, foundation models) into our production stack — making the calls on what's ready to ship and what isn't.
Own the hardest technical investigations in your area, from initial triage through production rollout and long-tail support.
Optimize 3D systems for speed, accuracy, and efficiency at production scale.
Use the right tool for the problem — classical 3D computer vision when it wins, learned approaches when they win.
Stay current with 3D vision research and evaluate promising techniques against our workflows.
Hold a high technical bar for your own work — high-quality designs, well-tested code, production-ready ship habits.
Contribute to the team through code review, pairing, and design feedback.
Codify debugging and investigation playbooks into reusable skills.
Use AI tools daily across the SDLC, with judgment on where they help and where they don't.
Author agent skills or tooling that other engineers use; contribute to the team's shared skills library.
Conduct rigorous evaluations of new AI tools and bring useful patterns to the team.
Review agent-generated code with the same rigor as human-written code.
Track the AI tooling landscape and bring useful patterns to the team.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, with 5+ years of professional experience in 3D Computer Vision or 3D Machine Learning, or a PhD in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, or a closely related discipline.
Hands-on experience with modern reality capture — specifically, gaussian splatting and/or foundation 3D reconstruction models (MASt3R, VGGT, or comparable). At least one of these from real hands-on work (production, startup, or other industry experience), not just paper familiarity.
Demonstrable track record of building and shipping 3D reconstruction systems — in production, at a startup, or in another applied industry setting (not just research or prototype work).
Deep experience across the broader 3D perception toolkit — at least three of: feature detection and matching, SfM, MVS, monocular depth estimation, mesh reconstruction, SLAM. Published research or open-source contributions in any of these areas is a plus.
Comfort across the classical-vs-learned spectrum — you reach for the right tool, not the trendiest one.
A real track record with agentic development.
Strong C++ proficiency — much of our photogrammetry pipeline runs in C++ and you'll be working in it daily.
Strong ability to timebox experiments, iterate effectively, and triage routes to success when the path isn't obvious.
Fluency in modern ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or equivalent) and modern training stacks.
Ability to work as an effective remote engineer with AM standup overlap with PST.
Strong written and verbal communication; you can take a technically dense investigation and make it land with PMs, leadership, and other engineers.
Open-source agent skills, plugins, or prompts that others use.
Experience running and monitoring many concurrent ML experiments in cloud environments.
Comfort with cloud training and inference (AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
Experience with geospatial systems or aerial imagery pipelines.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Culture of Innovation & Collaboration – Thrive in an environment that values creativity and teamwork.
Drone Certification – Get certified and gain unique, hands-on skills with our full backing.
Flexible Work Arrangements – Enjoy autonomy with remote-first options and schedule flexibility.
Paid Family Leave – Take the time you need to support your family during life’s most important moments.
Comprehensive Healthcare Coverage – Plans designed to support your well-being.
Career & Growth Development – Build new skills and unlock opportunities through continuous learning.
Flexible PTO – Take time off when you need it to recharge—we trust you to manage your time well.
Employee Referral Bonus – Know someone great? Refer them and earn a bonus when they join our team.

ATS Keywords

✓ Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

3D reconstructiongaussian splattingfoundation 3D modelsSfMMVSmonocular depth estimationmesh reconstructionC++PyTorchTensorFlow

Soft Skills

strong written communicationstrong verbal communicationtimeboxing experimentsiterating effectivelytriaging routes to successcollaborationcode reviewdesign feedbackdebugginginvestigation

Certifications

Bachelor's degreeMaster's degreePhD in Computer SciencePhD in EngineeringPhD in Computer VisionPhD in Machine Learning