--- title: 'Perception & Algorithms Engineer at Furientis' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/perception-algorithms-engineer-furientis-los-angeles-hvkng1pmdc6j' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-05' --- # Perception & Algorithms Engineer at Furientis - **Company:** Furientis - **Location:** Los Angeles, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-10-23 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-05 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/furientis/7317e131-82a3-4f88-b2cb-36d16ef4d5be ## Job description America is critically deficient in production of defensive munitions- we currently produce shipborne interceptors in the few hundreds per year while our adversaries are producing offensive threats in the tens of thousands per year. Furientis was started to help solve this problem- introducing a new class of cost-effective, high production rate, interceptor missiles. We're seeking motivated individuals who internalize this problem and are eager to apply their past experience in similar industries (aerospace, defense, automotive/racing, robotics) and out of the box thinking to solve this problem for the US and its allies. ## About the Team The Seeker Team builds the eyes and the targeting logic of our weapon system: a low-cost, mass-producible, multimodal missile seeker that leans on commercial supply chains where they outperform, and vertically integrates wherever possible. On a modern missile, the seeker is 40 to 60% of unit cost and often drives overly long delivery cycles; accordingly, the seeker team is at the tip of the spear for delivering capability to our customers and value to the taxpayer. Seeker design has exactly two real constraints: physics and mission. Nothing else is a show-stopper, only an obstacle to overcome. We are a small, deeply technical team that drives capability through ingenuity and bias for action and ships hardware that flies. This is a wear-many-hats environment where you must be comfortable "building the airplane in flight" and stepping well outside your comfort zone; a narrowly scoped role with clean handoffs is not what this team offers. This is an AI-native team. Through fluent use of cutting-edge agentic coding tools, one engineer here consistently out-delivers a much larger conventional team. You will have opinions about where these tools help and where they do not, provide governance input, and build out an AI-centric workflow from day one. ## About the Role You will contribute to the production of perception and estimation algorithms at the core of our seeker: detection, tracking, classification, and aimpoint localization on infrared (IR) imagery and fused sensor measurements, against targets that fight back. As part of the Seeker Team, you will research, implement, optimize, and validate algorithms in these areas, including modern AI and machine learning (ML) methods where they earn their place. Runtime efficiency is a hard constraint: everything you build must run within a strict latency budget on embedded flight-compute hardware. You will work closely with the broader Seeker Team to carry your algorithms from first prototype into flight. ## What You'll Do - Design and implement object detection algorithms for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) imagery, robust to clutter, domain shift, and countermeasures. - Develop multi-object tracking and state estimation: filtering, data association, and line-of-sight estimates for missile guidance. - Implement track lifecycle management: initialization, maintenance, confirmation, and termination under real sensor conditions. - Develop segmentation, classification, and discrimination algorithms that separate targets from decoys, debris, and background. - Develop aimpoint localization and the associated image-processing methods that support terminal accuracy. - Contribute to perception-related sensor fusion, combining IR and X-band radar measurements into a consistent track picture. - Implement, optimize, and validate your algorithms for real-time flight: measured latency, covariance and confidence you can defend, and performance proven in simulation, in hardware-in-the-loop testing, and in flight data. - Research and prototype advanced AI and ML methods within perception and estimation, and help mature the ones that prove out into the flight pipeline. ## Skills We're Hiring For - Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Math, Physics, or a related field; Master of Science (M.S.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) preferred. - 5 to 7 years of experience in applied computer vision, perception, or estimation on real sensor data. - Fluency in state estimation: the Kalman filter family, including nonlinear variants and interacting multiple model (IMM) approaches, applied with judgment. - Data association at multi-target scale: joint probabilistic data association (JPDA), multiple hypothesis tracking, or modern equivalents, chosen with judgment. - Classical optical image and signal processing as a working toolkit, with emphasis on methods for optical sensors: spatial and temporal filtering, morphology, non-uniformity and fixed-pattern noise handling, and techniques for imagery with a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). - Statistical rigor as a habit: normalized estimation error squared (NEES) and normalized innovation squared (NIS) consistency testing, covariance validation, and calibrated confidence. - 3+ years of experience using python to create, alter, and maintain libraries of algorithms within a modern Git & CI/CD framework. Bonus Points For - Rust for real-time implementation and familiarity with embedded CUDA - Missile, interceptor, or guided-munition perception or tracking experience. - Track-before-detect or other methods for detection and tracking at low SNR. - IR or other non-visible-band sensor experience, including synthetic-to-real domain adaptation. - TensorRT or comparable edge inference deployment experience. - Multi-sensor registration, boresight exploitation, or radar measurement familiarity. - Modern machine learning fluency (PyTorch or equivalent): training, evaluating, and shrinking perception models with measured accuracy tradeoffs. - Daily use of agentic coding tools (Claude Code or similar) to multiply your output. Eligibility & Logistics Location: On-site at our Los Angeles, CA HQ; remote work is not available. Monthly weekend travel for test events and supplier engagements. Clearance: A clearance is not required for this position. Must be a U.S. Person. Equal Opportunity & Export Compliance Furientis is an equal-opportunity employer. To comply with U.S. export control laws, employment is contingent on eligibility to access export-controlled information. ## About Furientis ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Furientis is a defense technology startup building low-cost, production-scalable interceptor missile systems for the U.S. military. - **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-seed) - **Headquarters**: El Segundo, California, USA (operates out of a facility in Playa Vista, Los Angeles) - **Founded**: 2025 - **Founders**: Brody Franzen (CEO) and Aris Simsarian ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Aerospace & Defense / Defense Technology - **Target customers**: U.S. military and defense organizations, particularly naval and ship-based interceptor procurement buyers - **Mission or purpose statement**: "We believe the future of warfare is dictated by production capacity, and our current system of manufacturing critical defensive munitions cannot meet demand." The company aims to build cost-effective defensive munitions at scale. ## Products & Services - **F 1.0 Interceptor Missile System**: A low-cost interceptor missile architected for an annual production volume of 1,000 units per factory. Designed to counter low-cost threats (drones, cruise missiles) that are expensive to stop with legacy systems. Uses automotive-style materials and assembly processes, commercial off-the-shelf components, and in-house solid rocket motors to achieve a cost of ~$250,000 per missile versus the $1–$5 million normally spent per interceptor. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (Private, early-stage) - **Key Metric**: $5M total funding raised (Pre-Seed round, announced May 2026) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Silent Ventures (lead), Bessemer Venture Partners, Multiball Capital, SV Angel, Humba Ventures, BVVC, Liquid 2 Ventures, MVP Ventures, Channel 39 Ventures, Vanderbilt University, Gaingels. Angel investors include founders of Anduril, Armada, and Erebor. - **Growth Signals**: Emerging from stealth with $5M pre-seed; completed six flight tests and ten static-fire tests within its first six months; named a finalist in the Office of Naval Research Tactical Missile Innovation Challenge; actively hiring with 4+ open roles; projected "significant demonstrations" later in 2026. ## Competitive Advantages - **Design for manufacturing from day one**: Unlike legacy primes that spend a year on modeling before building hardware, Furientis runs four-week design cycles with monthly flight tests—a "build fast, test often" approach. - **In-house solid rocket motor production**: Most primes outsource this critical component, creating supply chain bottlenecks. Furientis makes its own, giving it control over the most constrained piece of the supply chain. - **Cost advantage**: Target price is ~$250,000 per missile vs. $1M–$5M for incumbent systems from primes like Lockheed Martin, enabled by automotive-style materials, off-the-shelf components, and simplified assembly. - **Production scalability**: Designed from scratch for a throughput of 1,000 units per year per factory, addressing the core national security bottleneck of ammunition production capacity. ## Strategic Focus - **Scale production**: Move from prototype flight testing to initial production tooling and build-out of a 9,000-square-foot Los Angeles factory. - **Team expansion**: Actively hiring elite engineers across opto-mechanical, perception hardware, and finance roles to accelerate development. - **Demonstrate to the Navy**: Use ongoing flight tests and the ONR challenge to secure a production contract with the U.S. Navy. - **Prove the thesis**: Continue monthly flight tests to validate the cost and performance of its interceptor system. ## Why Work Here - **High-impact mission**: Work directly on solving a critical U.S. national security shortage—the ability to produce defensive munitions at the volumes needed to counter modern threats. - **Fast-paced engineering culture**: Four-week design cycles, monthly flight tests, and a "build and break things" mentality that contrasts with slow, traditional defense primes. - **Elite team and mentorship**: Leadership includes veterans of Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, and Castelion (a hypersonics startup that raised $350M). Advisors/investors include founders of Anduril and Armada—among the most successful modern defense startups. - **On-site in Los Angeles**: Roles are on-site in the Playa Vista / El Segundo area. The office is notably located in Lenny Kravitz’s former studio. - **Early-stage equity**: Joining at pre-seed stage ($5M raised) provides significant ownership potential for early engineers alongside a small, tight-knit team (11-50 employees). - **Active hiring**: As of mid-2026, open roles include Senior Opto-Mechanical Engineer, Perception Hardware Integration Engineer, and Finance Manager. ## Sources 1. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/furientis) 2. [Fortune (Exclusive launch article)](https://fortune.com/2026/05/14/furientis-missiles-defense-anduril-military-drone-interceptors/) 3. [PitchBook](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/894465-28) 4. [Fusion42 Profile](https://scout.fusion-42.com/startups/ff72fe16-9489-4f67-ae18-a3c6dd66edd4) 5. 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