SR Robotics Software Engineer

Role: Senior Robotics Software Engineer (C++ / Linux / ROS)

Location: North Carolina- Clayton

Duration: 12 months

Position’s Contributions to Work Group:

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to play a key technical leadership role on autonomy software teams developing perception, planning, control, and platform capabilities for autonomous systems. This position focuses on architecting, implementing, and scaling production-quality autonomy software while mentoring engineers and driving technical direction across projects.

The ideal candidate brings deep hands-on experience in complex software systems, thrives in cross‑functional autonomy environments, and is capable of translating ambiguous requirements into robust, field-ready solutions.

Education & Experience Required:

• Years of experience: 5+ years of professional software development experience with a strong focus on autonomy, robotics, or real-time systems
• Degree requirement:  Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, or related field (Master’s preferred) or equivalent experience
• Do you accept internships as job experience:  No
• Are there past or additional job titles or roles that would provide comparable background to this role: Senior C++ Software Engineer, Senior Systems Software Engineer, Robotics Software Engineer, Senior C++ Software Engineer

What Success Looks Like

• Core autonomy software components are architecturally sound, scalable, and reused across programs
• Algorithms move smoothly from simulation to reliable real-world deployment
• Technical decisions reduce integration risk and long-term maintenance cost
• Junior engineers grow in capability through mentorship and strong technical leadership
• Field issues are anticipated, diagnosed quickly, and resolved with durable solutions
• Experience working with distributed systems, middleware, or robotics frameworks
• Experience working in cross-functional, multi-team engineering environments
• Experience with autonomy or robotics middleware (e.g., ROS/ROS2 or similar systems)
• Hands-on experience with perception systems (LiDAR, camera, radar, sensor fusion)
• Familiarity with motion planning, control algorithms, state estimation, or mapping
• Experience with simulation, HIL, SIL, or synthetic data pipelines
• Exposure to embedded systems, real-time operating constraints, or edge/GPU computing
• Experience developing software for off-highway, automotive, construction, mining, or industrial autonomy
• Knowledge of safety-oriented development practices, reliability engineering, or functional safety concepts

Top 3 Skills

• Strong expertise in C++ (required); proficiency in Python
• Proven experience designing and maintaining large-scale, production software systems
• Deep understanding of Linux-based development, multithreading, memory management, and performance optimization

Soft Skills

(Required)

• Strong code review, design documentation, and technical communication skills
• Working within a large team that is spread out across the globe

Typical task breakdown:

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and ownership of major autonomy software components across perception, localization, planning, control, or platform layers
• Define and influence software architecture for scalable, reliable, and maintainable autonomy systems
• Translate algorithmic concepts and research prototypes into production-grade, real-time software
• Serve as a technical leader within the team, setting coding standards, best practices, and design patterns
• Mentor and guide junior and mid-level engineers through design reviews, code reviews, and technical coaching
• Collaborate closely with robotics, controls, AI/ML, simulation, systems, and safety teams to deliver end-to-end autonomy capabilities
• Drive integration of autonomy software with sensors, actuators, compute platforms, and vehicle networks (e.g., CAN, Ethernet)
• Lead debugging and root-cause analysis for complex issues observed in simulation, HIL, or field deployments
• Ensure software quality through automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, performance optimization, and documentation
• Contribute to technical roadmaps, risk assessments, and long-term platform strategy

Interaction with team: 

• Daily stand ups, planning meetings, generally handled virtually based on spread out nature of the team

Team Structure

• Agile Software team
• TPM, Architect and multiple developers 

Work environment:

• Senior technical role with significant influence on autonomy software direction
• Close collaboration with multidisciplinary teams across software, hardware, and systems
• Mix of architecture, hands-on development, integration, and field-facing problem solving
• Opportunity to shape the future of autonomous systems deployed at scale