Senior AI Engineer - Applied Scientist

About Forterra

Forterra is a leading provider of autonomous systems for ground-based movement in the working world. Amongst some of the earliest innovators in the field of driverless technology, Forterra is focused on building systems that protect front-line soldiers and enable civilian workers in our industrial base. Forterra is the go-to provider of ground autonomy solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense, which harnesses the technology for asymmetric warfare in critical conditions.

bout The Role

We are seeking a Senior / Staff AI Engineer with deep expertise in generative modeling and multimodal AI systems. In this role, you will design and implement advanced models for understanding complex agent interactions in dynamic environments. You'll work on extending these capabilities toward vision-language models and action-aware systems, collaborating closely with research and engineering teams to bridge foundational representation learning with real-world applications.

What You'll Do

• Develop neural network architectures for modeling sequential agent interactions using generative modeling approaches
• Implement Transformer-based models that encode agent and contextual features with attention mechanisms for capturing interactions
• Research and integrate goal-conditioned models that leverage structured representations before generating complete sequences
• Prototype and optimize learning models into lightweight modules suitable for real-time inference
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of models into the broader AI stack
• Benchmark and visualize model performance using real-world and simulated datasets
• Optimize models for low-latency inference and interpretability of output distributions

What We're Looking For

What We Need

What We Love to See

US Salary Range

$145,000$185,000

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterra's overall compensation package. In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including :

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.

CLEARANCE ELIGIBILITY - This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances : click here .

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel practices. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor, including veteran and disability status, and criminal history, in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Forterra is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.

To see Forterra's candidate data privacy policy, please visit Forterra Legal | Job Applicant Privacy Notice .

The pay range for this role is :

145,000 - 185,000 USD per year(Palo Alto Office)

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