Senior Software Engineer, Autonomous Systems

About the Role

Join a customer-facing product engineering team building cloud and edge software for autonomous systems used in operational and tactical missions. You will help connect sensors, vehicles, and intelligent decision-making systems so teams can coordinate robotic platforms in complex, high-stakes environments.

What You'll Do

• Design, implement, and optimize mission-critical software for autonomous systems.
• Build backend services and real-time messaging that connect external services, sensors, effectors, and autonomous platforms.
• Develop systems that process data from multiple sensor types for real-time state estimation and threat detection.
• Integrate LLMs and AI-driven agents into workflows that assess threats and support rapid response decisions.
• Engineer scalable, reliable, fail-safe software for demanding operational environments.
• Work with robotics, hardware, sensing, AI, and systems engineering teams to prototype, integrate, and deliver solutions.

What We're Looking For

• Four to ten years of backend or service-layer software engineering experience, with recent hands-on work as an individual contributor.
• Experience building and owning backend services such as microservices, APIs, or middleware, and real-time data exchange between live external systems.
• Professional proficiency in Rust, Python, C++, or Java, and a degree in computer science or a related technical field.
• Experience in autonomy, robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, or factory automation, with engineering work beyond algorithms, simulation, or ML research alone.
• Experience shipping software in a fast-paced, prototype-to-field environment; familiarity with LLM systems, AI agents, or tool chains is beneficial.
• US work authorization without sponsorship and eligibility to obtain a security clearance.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary

$145,000 to $275,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Location

Hybrid role based in Palo Alto, California.