Staff Software Engineer, Robotics Runtime

The Role

The Onboard Infrastructure team is responsible for the base platform software and middleware running on our onboard computer, from board bring-up through middleware, developed entirely in Rust.

We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join our team to architect and develop our onboard runtime framework. This framework allows our autonomy stack to operate safely and efficiently, while enabling our ML and Controls teams to develop faster and ship with confidence. 

In this role, you will:

• Architect and develop the core application runtime framework, including application lifecycle management, deterministic scheduling, and configuration systems that manage complex dependencies across subsystems.

• Develop high-performance communication systems and zero-copy interfaces capable of handling low-latency real-time sensor data from cameras and lidars.

• Build onboard infrastructure for system observability, diagnostics, and deterministic logging & replay.

• Establish and maintain coding standards and code health for onboard software, championing Rust best practices and serving as a technical mentor within the engineering organization.

• Collaborate closely with the Machine Learning and Controls teams to ensure the infrastructure meets the needs of advanced autonomy applications.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience in robotics, autonomous systems, or high-performance embedded systems.

• Strong proficiency in Rust or in modern C++, with a clear desire to become productive in Rust quickly. 

• Demonstrated ability to architect complex software systems, including defining APIs, data models, and inter-process communication mechanisms.

• Proven experience developing embedded real-time subsystems on Linux, demonstrating deep knowledge of userspace optimization, kernel interaction, latency, and resource constraints.

• Track record of technical leadership: leading projects, driving design decisions, mentoring others, and working effectively across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional experience developing in Rust for production environments.

• Previous work on runtime / middleware frameworks for autonomous vehicles or robotics.

• Background with sensors and compute commonly used in autonomy: cameras, lidars, GNSS, IMUs, edge compute modules, embedded controllers.

• Experience with functional safety standards (such as ISO 26262 or IEC 61508) and developing software for safety-critical applications.