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A startup building autonomous weapons for the military is recruiting design talent at the intern level, a sign that defense-tech firms are competing for creative and engineering labor earlier and more aggressively, and that battlefield AI is becoming a mainstream place for designers to build careers.
Company Overview
ACS (Allen Control Systems) is a defense technology company building precision robotic systems for the United States and its allies. Founded by two former U.S. Navy electrical engineers with deep experience in robotics and software, ACS brings together AI, computer vision, precision motion, and advanced hardware to solve complex defense challenges across land, air, and maritime environments.
Our flagship product, Bullfrog, is an autonomous precision weapon system that transforms existing weapons into highly accurate counter-drone systems — giving warfighters a scalable, cost-effective response to one of the fastest-growing threats on the modern battlefield. Bullfrog is deployed with U.S. forces, and ACS works with organizations throughout the U.S. military and national security community.
Following a $200 million Series B at a $2.2 billion valuation, ACS is rapidly expanding manufacturing, accelerating Bullfrog deployments, and developing the next generation of autonomous battlefield systems. This is an opportunity to join a proven, fast-moving team and help scale technology with direct, real-world impact on national security.
ACS is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with additional operations in Alexandria, Virginia; Mountain View, California; and Huntsville, Alabama. For more information, visit allencontrolsystems.com.
Our interns aren't fetching coffee or shadowing — they're working alongside the same engineers and product teams building the systems we ship.
As a Technical Design Artist Intern, you'll work at the intersection of art, engineering, and real-time technology. You'll help build and improve the Unreal Engine 5 systems that bring our products to life — from 3D assets and materials to visual effects, tools, and content pipelines.
This is early-career work with real stakes. You'll work closely with engineers and technical artists to solve problems, build things, and iterate on technology that needs to perform reliably in real-world environments.
Location: Austin, TX (on-site)
Duration: Summer 2027 (~10–12 weeks)
Pay: Paid Internship (to be discussed during interviews)
Build and integrate 3D assets, materials, textures, animations, and visual effects in Unreal Engine 5.
Work closely with engineers and technical artists to develop and iterate on real-time visual systems.
Create materials and shaders using Unreal Engine's Material Editor, including custom node-based and HLSL-based solutions where appropriate.
Build tools and workflows that help artists and engineers work faster and more consistently.
Use Blueprints and Python to automate repetitive tasks and improve content pipelines.
Help investigate and solve performance issues across graphics, memory, rendering, and content.
Work with Unreal Engine technologies such as Nanite, Lumen, Niagara, and Chaos.
Collaborate with engineers and product teams to understand technical requirements and turn them into working visual solutions.
Document tools, workflows, and technical decisions so others can build on your work.
Take projects from an initial idea through implementation, feedback, and iteration.
Currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Game Development, Computer Graphics, Animation, Interactive Media, or a related field.
Coursework, project, or internship experience with Unreal Engine, real-time graphics, technical art, 3D content creation, or game development.
Experience working in Unreal Engine 5, including familiarity with the editor, Materials, and Blueprints.
Experience with a 3D content creation tool such as Blender, Maya, or 3ds Max.
Basic understanding of real-time rendering, including materials, lighting, textures, geometry, and performance.
An interest in understanding how software and technical systems work.
Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
Curiosity about working closely with engineers and learning how technical decisions affect the final product.
A builder's mindset: you'd rather create something, get feedback, and iterate than wait for a perfect spec.
A portfolio or examples of projects that demonstrate your work with Unreal Engine, 3D content, shaders, tools, visual effects, or other real-time technology.
Experience with Python, C++, or HLSL.
Experience building Unreal Engine tools or workflows with Blueprints or Python.
Experience creating custom materials, shaders, or visual effects.
Experience with Niagara, Nanite, Lumen, Control Rig, or Chaos.
Experience with Houdini or procedural content generation.
Experience using graphics or performance profiling tools such as RenderDoc, PIX, Unreal Insights, or the Unreal GPU Visualizer.
Experience working directly with software engineers on a technical or creative project.
Projects involving simulation, robotics, autonomy, embedded systems, or other real-time technology.
Experience taking a project from prototype to a working, usable result.
Direct impact: Your work contributes to products that are built for real-world use — not stuck in a slide deck.
Real ownership: You'll work directly with the engineers and product team building Bullfrog and contribute to real product decisions from day one.
Small team, big scope: At a startup this size, interns take on meaningful problems and see their work move from concept to implementation.
Cross-functional experience: Work alongside designers, product managers, and engineers to understand what it takes to build and ship a product.
Mentorship: Learn from experienced engineers and product builders who have designed and fielded real defense systems.
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This isn't an application to Allen Control Systems.
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