Head of Defense Engineering (South Korea)

About Applied Intuition Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co . We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. About Seoul 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. About the Role 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. Key Responsibilities Lead, grow, and mentor a team of software engineers in Seoul; own hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career development. Build a high-performing team culture that combines mission focus with engineering rigor. 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. Operate the team as a fully integrated extension of the global engineering organization. Stay close to the code: drive architecture and design reviews, and make sound tradeoff decisions on system design for defense-grade workloads. Champion engineering best practices: CI/CD, testing, code review, and documentation. Partner with U.S. PMs, engineering leads, and adjacent Korea functions on shared deliverables. Represent the engineering team in technical customer discussions when needed. Required Qualifications 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 sof ... (truncated, view full listing at source)