AI Engineer - Perception

AI Engineer - Perception

Join us at the forefront of the robotics industry, developing and deploying a new generation of drones capable of physical interaction with the world - which makes them actual flying robots. Spun off from the world-renowned Autonomous Systems Lab of ETH Zurich in 2019, Voliro was awarded the Top Swiss Robotics Startup 2022 and named one of the Top 10 most innovative companies in robotics 2023 worldwide. In 2024, we won the Swiss Economic Award in the category "Deeptech/Life Sciences". After releasing our first generation product in September 2022, we have proved product-market fit in early 2023. Now, our next mission is to scale the business and create an unmatched customer experience around the core product. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, our growth markets are in North America as well as Europe. Our office in Houston amplifies sales and customer support in North America.

Your role

Are you passionate about enabling machines to understand and interact with the world around them? Do you thrive at the intersection of classical computer vision and modern deep learning? At Voliro, we are building aerial robots that carry out complex physical tasks—and we are looking for an AI Engineer for Perception to drive forward the sensing, intelligence, and autonomy stack that powers these capabilities. In this role, you will take ownership of parts of our autonomy pipeline, including vision-based localization, obstacle detection, environment understanding, semantic segmentation, and autonomous mission completion. You'll leverage both classical and learning-based techniques to build robust, deployable solutions. From algorithm development to real-world deployment, you will play a central role in shaping how our drones perceive and reason about their environment.

What You'll Do

• Design and deploy computer vision and deep learning models for real-time perception tasks like obstacle detection, pose estimation, inspection point detection, and scene understanding.
• Integrate and fuse data from multiple sensors (e.g. cameras, IMUs, GPS) to enable robust autonomy in diverse environments.
• Develop and maintain scalable training pipelines, datasets, and evaluation metrics for perception models.
• Collaborate with autonomy, control, and platform teams to ensure tight integration across the software stack.
• Own the performance of perception systems in the field, and iterate quickly based on testing and feedback.

What We're Looking For

• MSc or PhD in Machine Learning, AI, Computer Vision, Robotics, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience deploying AI-based perception systems on real robotic platforms.
• Solid skills in Python and C++, and deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Deep understanding of 2D/3D perception techniques, sensor fusion, and real-time constraints.
• Strong sense of ownership, adaptability, and ability to work across teams in a fast-paced environment.

Bonus Points

• Experience deploying real-time perception on drones or mobile robots.
• Exposure to self-supervised learning, generative vision models, or visual-inertial systems.
• Publications or competition results in computer vision or robotics.

Benefits

Voliro is an opportunity for you to join a team at the forefront of the robotics industry, a team of pioneers and enthusiasts. You will leverage your experience in a dynamic and multidisciplinary working environment and grow together with Voliro. Innovation is our driver and customer excellence is our mission. We cultivate a transparent, motivating, and progressive company culture. You will get 25 vacation days per year, flexible work hours, and unlimited amounts of high-quality espresso.

Your application

We are looking forward to receiving your application! Please note that we are considering complete applications submitted to https://voliroar.bamboohr.com/careers. Please clearly state your residency/working status for Switzerland in your application. We are unable to support work permit applications for non-EU/EFTA nationals without an existing Swiss work permit. If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to us via talent@voliro.com.