Perception Engineer

Career Area:

Engineering

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Job Summary:

Perception is a key part of Caterpillar's autonomy efforts.  We are a small team with the opportunity to make a big impact.  As Caterpillar is an established company with thousands of products in mining and construction all around the world, the customer pull for autonomy is clear.  We are looking for a perception engineer to join our team of experts in developing cutting-edge autonomous and operator-assisted driving systems. As a perception engineer, you will be responsible for designing, implementing, and testing algorithms for sensor fusion, object detection, tracking and classification. You will also collaborate with and learn from other engineers and researchers to integrate solutions into our software stack and hardware platform.

What You Will Do:

• Solve challenging perception problems for mobile off-road machines.
• Participate in design and development of high-quality perception software and algorithms to solve our customer needs.
• Document architecture specifications, software design, verification plans, test cases, operating procedures, and safety procedures.
• Work with application teams to collect and analyze data on customer experience with robotic and manned platforms. Work with others to analyze and annotate data for ML training. Participate in the iterative ML training cycles to meet perception requirements.
• Use appropriate tools to debug, test and maintain perception software and assist in the verification and validation process.

Education Requirement:

Requires a degree or multiple degrees in Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or related field

What You Will Have:

Artificial Intelligence/Autonomy:

• Have a working knowledge of mobile robotics perception for autonomy or advanced operator assist systems.  This includes a working knowledge of computer vision, machine learning and deep learning techniques and familiarity with lidar, radar and cameras as perception sensors. 
• Design, write, test and review autonomy and advanced operator assist perception software
• Proven ability to work independently and within a team

Software Development Life Cycle & Programming Languages & Application Development Tools:

• Have a working knowledge of the Agile software development life cycle, the C++ and Python programming languages, Eigen, Azure DevOps or Jira for project management and work item tracking, standard software development tools (CMake, Git, SonarQube, Docker, GoogleTest, Artifactory, Clang) used in development of mobile robot perception systems. 
• Knowledge of cloud compute and storage tools, AWS EC2, S3, and Batch
• Knowledge of ROS or Caterpillar's Autonomous Infrastructure Software (AIS), OpenCV, Tensorflow/PyTorch, and code development tools.
• Participate in efforts to develop, integrate, or test complex autonomy systems that meet prioritized requirements and time frame constraints for autonomous machine programs focusing on machine safety and productivity.
• Ability to solve complex issues spanning multiple subsystems.

Problem Solving:

Have a working knowledge of Perception for mobile robotics with the following:

• Solve challenging perception problems in autonomy and operator assist systems
• A passion for innovation and problem-solving
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills
• Strong mathematics skills

Additional Information

• This position requires the candidate to work onsite five days a week at the Pittsburgh, PA office.
• This position may require 10% travel
• Sponsorship is not available for this position

Summary Pay Range:

$87, $142,200.00

Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar. 

Benefits:

Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits*

• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*

• 401(k) savings plans*

• Health Savings Account (HSA)*

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*

• Health Lifestyle Programs*

• Employee Assistance Program*

• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*

• Career Development*

• Incentive bonus*

• Disability benefits

• Life Insurance

• Parental leave

• Adoption benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement

* These benefits also apply to part-time employees

This position requires working onsite five days a week.Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position. This employer is not currently hiring foreign national applicants that require or will require sponsorship tied to a specific employer, such as, H, L, TN, F, J, E, O. As a global company, Caterpillar offers many job opportunities outside of the U.S which can be found through our employment website at

Posting Dates:

October 29, November 4, 2025

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.     

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

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