Staff Simulation Platform Engineer

Merlin Labs

Staff Simulation Platform Engineer designing and building simulation infrastructure for an aerospace startup. Involves autonomy development and hardware validation across aircraft platforms.

Posted 5/6/2026full-timeBoston • Massachusetts • 🇺🇸 United StatesLeadWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Distributed SystemsPythonUnityUnreal Engine

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design and build the next-generation simulation infrastructure that supports aircraft modeling, autonomy development, and hardware-in-the-loop validation across multiple aircraft platforms
Improve stability of routing layers, hardware/software interfaces, and runtime integration components
Introduce versioning and compatibility discipline across simulation artifacts
Build validation tooling to prevent integration breakage from reaching lab benches
Expand scenario-based simulation capabilities supporting autonomy development
Enable structured Monte Carlo and multi-scenario validation workflows
Develop infrastructure to simulate sensor inputs and autonomy behaviors in realistic operational contexts
Improve determinism and traceability of simulation runs
Implement CI/CD workflows for simulation artifacts
Improve reproducibility of simulation environments
Implement schema-driven validation mechanisms for interfaces
Mentor and elevate engineers working on simulation tools and routing infrastructure
Establish extensibility and architectural standards within the simulation stack
Influence cross-functional stakeholders (Autonomy, Compute Platform, Systems, Lab Integration)

Requirements

What you’ll need

7+ years of experience building or scaling complex simulation or autonomy validation environments
Experience contributing to or architecting large-scale simulation frameworks (e.g., AFSIM, Unreal/Unity-based simulation environments, CARLA, custom autonomy simulation platforms, or equivalent)
Strong software architecture experience in multi-component, distributed systems
Experience defining interface contracts, configuration schemas, or API boundaries in complex systems
Experience integrating simulation environments with real-time or hardware-in-the-loop systems
Hands-on proficiency in Python and/or C++

Benefits

Comp & perks

catered lunches featuring a rotating menu of delicious options
an assortment of snacks to keep you fueled throughout the day
a selection of beverages, including coffee, tea, and other drinks, to keep you refreshed
health, dental, life insurance
unlimited vacation
401k with match
professional development

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

PythonC++simulation infrastructurehardware-in-the-loop validationCI/CD workflowsschema-driven validationmulti-component systemsdistributed systemsinterface contractsconfiguration schemas

Soft Skills

mentoringcross-functional collaborationinfluencing stakeholders