Senior Software Engineer, Game Engine & World Systems (Autonomy)

Applied Intuition Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive defense trucking construction mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure operating systems and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers as well as the United States military and its allies trust the companys solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale California with offices in Washington D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach Florida; Ann Arbor Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at .

We are an in-office company and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

Were seeking a Senior Software Engineer to architect the world representation layer at the heart of Applied Intuitions Acuity autonomy stack. If youve spent your career building the spatial worlds that games simulations or autonomous systems inhabit defining how environments are structured queried and updated at high frequency this role was written for you.

This is a senior deeply technical position sitting at the intersection of computational geometry real-time world modeling and large-scale simulation. Youll own the foundational scene and mapping systems that downstream sensor fusion and path planning both depend on: defining 4D spatial abstractions Entity Component Systems and the high-performance data structures that make multi-agent reasoning across air ground and maritime domains possible.

The ideal candidate has built world representations from the ground up whether in a game engine a robotics simulator or an autonomous vehicle stack and knows what it takes to make those representations fast accurate and scalable under real operational constraints.

• Architect World & Scene Representation Systems: Design and implement core spatial data structures including Entity Component System frameworks spatial indexing occupancy representations and 4D object management for large-scale multi-agent environments.

• Own Mapping & Geometry Pipelines: Build and optimize the computational geometry and world-state systems that sit between raw sensor data and the path planning stack including coordinate frame management spatial queries and environment abstraction layers.

• Drive Performance to the Metal: Write highly optimized C (C20) with a focus on low-latency cache-efficient and memory-conscious design. You should be comfortable profiling hot paths eliminating allocations and squeezing real-time performance out of complex spatial systems.

• Lead Technical Strategy & Integration: Drive architectural decisions and design clean APIs that enable cross-domain integration across air ground and maritime autonomy stacks.

• Collaborate & Mentor: Act as a technical anchor across teams engaging proactively with sensor planning and simulation engineers to ensure the scene layer meets the needs of the full autonomy stack.

• 7 years of professional software engineering experience with deep expertise in spatial systems world modeling or simulation environments

• Expert-level C skills (C20 or later) including template metaprogramming move semantics SIMD and performance optimization at the systems level

• Hands-on experience building world or scene representations from a game engine sim platform or autonomous system including managing dynamic object state spatial indexing and real-time updates

• Strong background in computational geometry: coordinate transformations spatial data structures (BVH octrees k-d trees) geometric algorithms and collision/proximity systems

• Deep intuition for low-latency high-throughput software design in real-time environments

• Strong proficiency in Python and shell scripting for tooling and automation

• Experience with agentic coding tools (Cursor Claude Code GitHub Copilot) and AI-assisted development workflows

Travel Requirements:

• Must be willing to travel as projects requires; average travel varies but can be up to once a month for up to 1 week (20%)

Security Requirements:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen

• Must hold or be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

For more information about U.S. security clearances: click here.

• Expertise with the Linux/Docker/C toolchains (including build systems like Nix and Bazel) and cross-compilation.

• Experience with temporal reasoning systems and 4D scene representation (space time)

• Background in game development simulation or virtual environments

• Knowledge of physics engines and collision detection systems

• Understanding of autonomous systems or robotics software architectures

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary equity and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units comprehensive health dental vision life and disability insurance coverage 401k retirement benefits with employer match learning and wellness stipends and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience credentials & certifications educational attainment skill level requirements interview performance and the level and scope of the position.

Dont meet every single requirement If youre excited about this role but your past experience doesnt align perfectly with every qualification in the job description we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently the parties agree that as applicable they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a) 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that as applicable they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471 Appendix A to Subpart A) relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.

FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request.
If you require an accommodation please contact . We will work with you!

Required Experience:

Senior IC