Chief CV/ML Engineer

Company Overview
ACS (Allen Control Systems) is a defense technology company building precision robotic systems for the United States and its allies. Founded by two former U.S. Navy electrical engineers with deep experience in robotics and software, ACS brings together AI, computer vision, precision motion, and advanced hardware to solve complex defense challenges across land, air, and maritime environments.

Our flagship product, Bullfrog, is an autonomous precision weapon system that transforms existing weapons into highly accurate counter-drone systems — giving warfighters a scalable, cost-effective response to one of the fastest-growing threats on the modern battlefield. Bullfrog is deployed with U.S. forces, and ACS works with organizations throughout the U.S. military and national security community.

Following a $200 million Series B at a $2.2 billion valuation, ACS is rapidly expanding manufacturing, accelerating Bullfrog deployments, and developing the next generation of autonomous battlefield systems. This is an opportunity to join a proven, fast-moving team and help scale technology with direct, real-world impact on national security.

ACS is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with additional operations in Alexandria, Virginia; Mountain View, California; and Huntsville, Alabama. For more information, visit allencontrolsystems.com.

About The Role:

We are looking for a Chief Engineer, Computer Vision/Machine Learning to own technical direction and architecture for the CV/ML systems at the core of our autonomous gun turret. Working with our VP of AI and CV/ML Engineering Managers and individual contributors, you will set the technical strategy for real-time drone detection, tracking, and classification, and see it through from architecture to fielded, military-grade systems. This is a senior technical leadership role: your time will center on architecture, design review, and the hardest technical problems on the program, with a small group of senior engineers reporting to you.

What You’ll Do

• Own the technical roadmap and architecture for the CV/ML stack, setting direction that Engineering Managers and their teams execute against.

• Make and document the consequential technical decisions: sensor and compute architecture, model strategy, real-time performance tradeoffs, and how the perception system evolves across weapon system variants and engagement ranges.

• Personally drive the hardest and most ambiguous technical problems on the program, from concept through field validation.

• Lead a small group of senior CV/ML engineers, and mentor senior and staff engineers and managers across the broader team through design review and technical guidance.

• Partner with the VP of AI and Engineering Managers to align technical strategy with product goals, delivery commitments, and hiring plans.

• Set and uphold the technical quality bar across the CV/ML organization through architecture review, design review, and validation standards.

What You’ll Need

• Deep expertise and 15+ years of experience in machine-learning-based computer vision and traditional image and signal processing, ideally in robotics, including systems deployed in real-time or safety-critical applications.

• A track record of owning the architecture of a complex perception or autonomy system across multiple years and releases, from initial design through production hardening.

• Demonstrated ability to set technical direction that other teams execute against, and to drive alignment through expertise and influence as well as authority.

• Experience mentoring and leading senior team members, whether as a formal manager or as a principal-level technical leader.

• At least a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with a strong focus on machine learning and computer vision.

• Strong command of Python and C++ and modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow, with the depth to review and guide work across the stack even where you are not writing the code yourself.

• Comfort operating in a fast-moving, engineering-first environment where architecture decisions carry hard real-world consequences.

You’ll Stand Out

• Prior experience as a Principal Engineer, Chief Engineer, or technical director for a perception, autonomy, or weapons/aerospace program.

• Ph.D. in computer vision, machine learning, or related fields.

• Experience with object detection and tracking in challenging real-world conditions such as small targets, cluttered backgrounds, or low-contrast imagery.

• Background in defense, aerospace, or autonomous systems where performance and reliability requirements are non-negotiable.

• Experience architecting systems for edge hardware such as NVIDIA Jetson or similar embedded GPU platforms, or with multi-sensor fusion across modalities such as optical and infrared cameras.

• Experience taking a system through field testing, hardware integration cycles, and production hardening, not just software-only development.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary

• ACS Equity Package

• Health, Dental, Vision Insurance

• Paid Time Off

Allen Control Systems is an Equal Opportunity Employer, providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment. Allen Control Systems prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. #LI-AS1