Founding LiDAR Perception Engineer

Seattle, WA - no relocation assistance. - please do not apply if you are not physically in Seattle.

Early startup with customers + Equity + Commission Contract | Flexible Hours

About Us

Metrolla is an early-stage startup building the next generation of autonomous perception systems. We're early-revenue and bootstrapped, with a lean team of engineers obsessed with solving hard problems at the intersection of computer vision, LiDAR processing, and real-time optimization. We're looking for experienced engineers who can contribute high-impact work on our perception pipeline while maintaining flexibility—you can work with us while keeping your day job. We offer equity stake and commission-based compensation tied directly to your impact.

The Role

We are looking to bring on our first local perception engineer, you'll contribute to the development of our CPU-optimized perception stack on a flexible, commission-based arrangement until we get a few more jobs going then transition to full time salary. You will be in charge of product including but not limited to algorithm design, refinement, features, optimization, and deployment. You'll have technical autonomy on the perception pipeline while integrating with our broader system architecture. Occasionally meet up in person for testing and development. We have no office location at this time so this is a in person collaboration with work from home capacity.

Key Responsibilities

• Design Augment and implement CPU-optimized LiDAR perception algorithms with expertise in hybrid model development like platforms such as Kinect AdaBoost
• Fine tune and work with Euclidean distance calculations, Mahalanobis distance metrics, and Hungarian algorithm applications.
• Develop and optimize code using ROS2 Jazzy, containerized with Docker for reproducibility and deployment
• Set up and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions for automated testing and integration
• Optimize algorithms for real-time CPU performance—profiling, vectorization, SIMD optimization, and memory efficiency
• Work hands-on with LiDAR sensors and test environments during in-person sessions
• Deliver clean, well-documented code that integrates with the broader perception pipeline
• Add mobile detection capabilities to our stationary app.
• Bring our product up to class leading levels.

What We're Looking For

Required

• 5+ years of professional experience in perception engineering, computer vision, or robotics
• Hands-on expertise with LiDAR processing and point cloud algorithms
• Proficiency with Euclidean distance, Mahalanobis distance, Hungarian algorithm, and adaptive boosting techniques (Kinect AdaBoost or similar)
• Production experience with ROS2 Jazzy (or strong ROS2 foundation with ability to work with Jazzy)
• Must have: Docker containerization experience—comfortable building, testing, and deploying containerized applications
• Must have: Experience setting up and maintaining CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions
• Strong C++ implementation skills; ability to write fast, clean, maintainable code
• Experience optimizing algorithms for CPU—you understand memory layouts, cache efficiency, vectorization, and SIMD
• Experience in startup environments: you've navigated resource constraints, shifting priorities, and the pressure to deliver meaningful results. You understand the stakes and hunger that comes with early-stage ventures
• Comfort with embedded systems, real-time constraints, and sensor integration
• Ability to coordinate directing and offloading work to other engineers
• Using coding AI agents is welcome and encouraged for faster development and testing.

Nice to Have

• Experience with stationary and robotics applications
• Familiarity with ARM and AMD64 architectures and modern technology
• Published work or open-source contributions in perception or computer vision
• Experience mentoring or leading engineering teams

Commission-Based Contract

• 5% commission on net revenue (billed work, deliverables, or milestones completed)
• 0.5% equity in the company with additional equity based on performance
• Flexible, part-time arrangement—work as much or as little as you want around your primary employment

Why This Role

• Direct financial incentive: your commission scales with impact—the better the perception system, the faster we grow revenue. in ~6 months this will transition to salary on scaleup.
• Equity upside: as an early contributor, you'll have meaningful ownership if this becomes the next big thing in autonomous perception
• No golden handcuffs: you maintain full-time employment elsewhere while building something on the side
• Work on genuinely hard problems: CPU-optimized LiDAR perception is not hard and even more complex at scale, and that's why we need you
• Hybrid flexibility: mostly remote with optional in-person lab sessions in Seattle for hands-on sensor work
• Direct collaboration with founders; lean team, zero bureaucracy

What We Expect

• Meaningful contributions: we need engineers who can actually move the needle on perception algorithms, not casual contributors
• Self-direction: you own your deliverables. We'll set milestones and measure impact, but you decide how to execute
• Regular communication: weekly sync calls and GitHub-based collaboration to stay aligned

How to Apply:

Please send your resume, a brief cover letter explaining your interest and expected availability, and relevant work samples:

In your cover letter, tell us:

• How many hours per week you could realistically commit
• Your experience with LiDAR Perception engineering, ROS2, Docker, and GitHub Actions
• A challenging perception or optimization problem you've solved—we want to understand how you think
• When we raise our seed round would you be willing to join full time?