1

Perception Engineer Jobs in Texas (NOW HIRING)

Perception Hardware Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

$122K - $161K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Job Overview We are seeking a Perception Hardware Engineer to join a team that will integrate and develop the sensing and perception systems that power autonomy on our unmanned surface vessels. In ...

Perception Hardware Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

$110 - $170/hr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Job Overview We are seeking a Perception Hardware Engineer to join a team that will integrate and develop the sensing and perception systems that power autonomy on our unmanned surface vessels. In ...

... Engineering, or a closely related field * 2+ years of professional or project experience with robotic software development, involving implementation of real-time algorithms for perception and data ...

The Role Apptronik is seeking a Staff Perception Hardware Engineer to serve as the execution leader for Apollo's perception hardware systems. While others may draw the block diagrams, you are the ...

AI/Perception Lead Engineer

Leander, TX

$97K - $129K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

AI / Perception Lead Engineer Company Overview Wild West Systems is an American defense technology company with the mission to equip the civilized world with superior and affordable arms and advanced ...

AI/Perception Lead Engineer

Leander, TX · On-site

$250K - $650K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

AI / Perception Lead Engineer Company Overview Wild West Systems is an American defense technology company with the mission to equip the civilized world with superior and affordable arms and advanced ...

Showing results 21-40

Perception Engineer information

See Texas salary details

$12

$52

$75

How much do perception engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 16, 2026, the average hourly pay for perception engineer in Texas is $52.16, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $37.40 and $69.42 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the typical daily responsibilities of a perception engineer?

As a Perception Engineer, your typical day involves designing, developing, and testing algorithms that help automated systems interpret sensor data from sources such as cameras, lidar, and radar. You’ll spend time collaborating with cross-functional teams, including hardware engineers and software developers, to integrate perception solutions into larger systems like autonomous vehicles or robotics platforms. Regular tasks include data collection and annotation, debugging, performance optimization, and participating in code reviews. This role often requires a balance of independent problem-solving and teamwork to ensure reliable and accurate perception capabilities in ever-changing environments.

What is a perception engineer?

A Perception Engineer develops and optimizes computer vision and sensor-based systems to help machines interpret and understand their surroundings. This role involves working with data from cameras, LiDAR, radar, and other sensors to create models for object detection, tracking, and scene understanding. Perception Engineers commonly work in fields like robotics, autonomous vehicles, and augmented reality, utilizing machine learning and signal processing techniques. Their goal is to enhance a system’s ability to perceive and react to its environment accurately and efficiently.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the perception engineer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Perception Engineer, you need a strong background in computer vision, sensor fusion, machine learning, and robotics, usually supported by a degree in electrical engineering, computer science, or a related field. Experience with programming languages like Python or C++, deep learning frameworks (such as TensorFlow or PyTorch), and familiarity with tools like ROS and OpenCV are commonly required. Analytical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication are valuable soft skills that set top candidates apart. These skills are crucial for developing and optimizing perception systems that enable machines to understand and interact with complex real-world environments.

What are the most commonly searched types of Perception Engineer jobs in Texas?

The most popular types of Perception Engineer jobs in Texas are:

Infographic showing various Perception Engineer job openings in Texas as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 92% Full Time, 3% Part Time, and 5% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $108,503 per year, or $52.2 per hour.

Staff Software Engineer, Perception (R5421)

Shield AI

Dallas, TX • On-site

$195K - $292K/yr

Full-time

Posted 18 days ago


Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube. 

The Hivemind Solutions Perception team develops the next generation of perception capabilities for autonomous systems by combining state-of-the-art machine learning with the proven foundations of computer vision. The team advances how autonomous platforms understand and interpret the world by developing vision, vision-language (VLM), and vision-language-action (VLA) models that tackle core perception challenges such as object understanding, scene interpretation, and mission-relevant environmental awareness. Working at the intersection of research and production, our engineers build the data pipelines, supervised fine-tuning (SFT) workflows, evaluation frameworks, and deployment infrastructure needed to transform cutting-edge AI research into reliable, mission-ready perception capabilities.
 
In this role, you'll lead the technical development of advanced machine learning solutions that define the future of perception for autonomous systems. You'll own the team's most challenging technical problems, drive architecture and model development across multiple efforts, and influence how foundation models are adapted, evaluated, and deployed for real-world autonomy. Working closely with researchers, perception engineers, autonomy engineers, and platform teams, you'll bridge cutting-edge AI research with scalable production systems while mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar across the organization.
What You'll Do:

Model Development – Design, train, fine-tune, and maintain state-of-the-art vision, vision-language, and vision-language-action models that improve perception and decision-making for autonomous systems. 

Data Pipelines & Model Training – Build scalable data pipelines, supervised fine-tuning (SFT) workflows, and evaluation loops that continuously improve model performance on mission-relevant tasks. 

Model Deployment & Optimization – Deploy and optimize machine learning models for embedded hardware using technologies such as ONNX, TensorRT, and hardware-accelerated inference frameworks. 

Perception & Autonomy Applications – Apply modern machine learning techniques to solve challenging perception and autonomy problems across aerial and other autonomous systems operating in complex, real-world environments. 

Research-to-Production – Translate cutting-edge machine learning research into production-ready capabilities by balancing model performance, robustness, computational efficiency, and operational reliability. 

Cross-functional Collaboration – Partner closely with perception, autonomy, platform, and software engineering teams to integrate machine learning capabilities into mission-ready autonomous systems. 

Model Evaluation & Validation – Develop benchmarks, testing methodologies, and evaluation frameworks to measure model performance, identify failure modes, and guide future improvements. 

Continuous Improvement – Improve training infrastructure, developer tooling, deployment workflows, and model lifecycle management to accelerate experimentation and production delivery. 

Required Qualifications:
  • Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or 4 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.

  • Expertise of machine learning fundamentals. 

  • Experience training an deploying ML models for computer vision in a production setting. 

  • Strong understanding of 3D vision problems/algorithms. 

  • Experience with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow. 

  • Demonstrated expertise in deploying models using TensorRT and ONNX. 

  • Proficiency in C++ and Python. 

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate research into practical applications. 

  • Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance 
Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience with developing autonomous systems for defense customers. 

  • Experience with training/finetuning vision-language models, vision-language-action models, and/or world models.  

  • Contributions to open-source projects in machine learning or computer vision. 

  • Track record of publications in leading computer vision and robotics conferences and journals (e.g., CVPR, ICCV/ECCV, RAL, ICRA).

#LI-DS-1
#LD

Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
 
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
 
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
 
###
 
Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. 

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.