Autonomy Engineer Intern, Autonomy Infrastructure, Systems and Tools, 2027 (Zurich)

Description

The company makes drones and is a global leader in autonomous flight, a core technology for the future of drones and aerial mobility.

Its team pairs AI expertise with hardware and software product development, operational discipline, and a focus on customers, serving users from utility inspectors to first responders and soldiers in the field.

The core of the system is the computer vision software that lets drones perceive their surroundings. You will help build the algorithms that run on every drone the company ships, working alongside computer vision and deep learning researchers from leading academic and industry labs.

As a research intern, you will work with one or more engineers on the core software team and own a project that meaningfully improves the team's capabilities and products.

This suits someone with a solid base in mathematics, theory, and software development who wants to help build the next generation of autonomy algorithms and get them into real products.

Responsibilities

• Design and build robust replay and analysis systems that let engineers inspect and reproduce recorded autonomy behavior, with fine-grained control over system state, perception outputs, and decisions at every layer of the stack.
• Build scalable infrastructure for automated testing and failure triage, extending simulation and log-driven test coverage and speeding up root-cause analysis with automated log processing and diagnostics.
• Work where autonomy software meets core robotics middleware: define clear APIs, data contracts, and performance requirements for messaging, state propagation, and coordination across subsystems, and help downstream teams implement and integrate them.
• Design and implement reliable, fast, and easy-to-use developer tools that support rapid iteration, safe experimentation, and steady delivery across the autonomy organization.
• Lead the design and implementation of scalable tools used in autonomy development and testing.
• Gather requirements with autonomy, QA, and infrastructure teams, agree on priorities, and deliver tooling that makes a real difference.
• Build tools that streamline stages of the robotics development process.
• Own internal services from initial concept through deployment and monitoring.
• Help shape the long-term vision and roadmap for developer tools that improve debugging, test coverage, and system understanding.

Requirements

• Proficiency in C++ and Python, with a strong understanding of performance-sensitive and multi-threaded systems.
• Experience with simulation frameworks, time-synchronized data systems, or state-machine-driven applications.
• Familiarity with structured data visualization, log processing, or developer tooling design.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Comfort in a fast-paced environment where requirements change and priorities shift.
• Bonus: experience building performance-sensitive systems (profiling, multithreading, real-time constraints) in robotics, aerospace, automotive, or similar fields.
• Bonus: exposure to robotics, simulation, or physics engines.
• Bonus: background in telemetry systems, log ingestion pipelines, or automated test environments.
• Bonus: front-end skills in modern web frameworks such as React, TypeScript, Three.js, or Plotly, focused on data interaction and visualization.
• Bonus: familiarity with distributed systems or cloud-hosted services that support internal tools and customer applications.

Conditions

Location: Zurich.

The hourly rate is $47 for undergraduate students, $53 for master's students, and $70 for PhD students.

Pay varies with skill level, proficiencies, transferable knowledge, and experience.

Pay for some positions may vary by location.

Equal opportunity: the company values diverse perspectives and is working to build an inclusive culture.

Benefits

• In addition to base salary, full-time employees are eligible to enroll in the company's benefit plans and to receive a range of incentives and stipends.