Head of Defense Engineering (South Korea)

Applied Intuition entered the Korean market in 2020. The team has rapidly grown over the past few years and established strategic relationships with major Korean automotive OEM customers. Based in Gangnam, the Seoul site consists of more than 15 employees who previously come from LG, Ansys, Unity, Seoul Robotics, and other renowned companies. 

We are seeking an Engineering Manager to lead our Korea-based defense engineering team, delivering the simulation and AI tooling that powers autonomous defense systems. You will set technical direction, grow a high-performing team, and ensure reliable delivery of Applied Intuition's defense product suite for Korean and global defense customers.

You will operate as the Korea-based engineering leader for Applied's defense tooling, partnering daily with U.S. product and engineering leadership while leading local engineers on-site in Seoul. You bring deep technical credibility in autonomy, simulation, or related domains, and the leadership maturity to grow engineers, set direction, and deliver under defense-grade constraints.ow to translate that credibility into customer trust, pipeline, and signed contracts. 

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  Lead, grow, and mentor a team of software engineers in Seoul; own hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career development.

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  Build a high-performing team culture that combines mission focus with engineering rigor.

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  Own the Korea team's roadmap in close partnership with U.S. product and engineering leadership; translate priorities into executable plans and deliver on schedule.

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  Operate the team as a fully integrated extension of the global engineering organization.

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  Stay close to the code: drive architecture and design reviews, and make sound tradeoff decisions on system design for defense-grade workloads.

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  Champion engineering best practices: CI/CD, testing, code review, and documentation.

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  Partner with U.S. PMs, engineering leads, and adjacent Korea functions on shared deliverables.

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  Represent the engineering team in technical customer discussions when needed.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 3 years in an engineering management or team lead role managing a team of 3+ engineers.

• Proven track record of delivering complex software products on schedule in a fast-paced, customer-oriented environment.

• Hands-on technical background in one or more of: autonomy systems, simulation, AI/ML infrastructure, robotics, unmanned systems, embedded systems, or defense-grade software.

• Strong proficiency in Python, C++, or similar; familiarity with AI/ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and their application in autonomous or perception systems.

• Demonstrated ability to hire, grow, and retain engineers in a competitive market.

• Experience operating in an agile, high-frequency release cycle with strong engineering discipline (CI/CD, testing, code review).

• Excellent English communication skills for daily collaboration with the U.S. team; native-level Korean for leading a Korea-based team.

• Proven ability to balance hands-on technical depth with people leadership — credible with engineers, effective with cross-functional partners.

• Experience leading engineering teams that built simulation platforms, ML training infrastructure, or developer tooling for robotics, autonomy, or defense.

• Familiarity with reinforcement learning frameworks and/or simulation engines.

• Experience delivering software in closed-network / air-gapped deployment environments common in defense.

• Familiarity with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing workflows and software-hardware integration.

• Domain familiarity with UAVs, unmanned systems, ATR, drone swarming, path planning, or aerospace control systems — as a context for tool design, not as an IC requirement.

• Experience working in a U.S.-headquartered technology company with a Korea or APAC presence.

• Prior experience managing engineers operating under security clearance, CUI, or government compliance regimes.