Associate Customer Success Engineer

Ouster; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office in Mission District SF

15 vacation days/10 paid holidays

Paid parental leave

Pre-tax commuter or health care/depend

401K match up to 4%

Medical, vision and dental plans

Life insurance

Disability coverage

Job summary

Ouster seeks an Associate Customer Success Engineer in San Francisco to support robotics customers in getting our lidar sensors up and running. You will troubleshoot hardware, firmware, networking, and software issues, guided by senior engineers, while building deep product fluency.

You’ll help with onboarding, validate configurations, and document issues for knowledge bases. A strong customer-focus and proactive ownership are expected as you grow into a senior role.

Qualifications

• Linux environments (Ubuntu preferred) with basic command-line use.
• Understanding TCP/IP, UDP, DNS, DHCP; familiarity with tcpdump, Wireshark, ping, netstat is a plus.
• Some experience with Python for scripting or log review.
• Any exposure to ROS/ROS2 or RViz is a bonus.

Responsibilities

• Customer Integration & Onboarding: assist post-sale onboarding, sensor integration, network configuration, and SDK/API setup; validate system architectures.
• Technical Triage & Resolution: field inbound requests, triage hardware/firmware/network/software issues, escalate to senior engineers.
• Diagnostics & Troubleshooting: use CLI and diagnostic software to resolve connectivity and data streaming issues on Linux/Windows.
• Engineering Collaboration: write clear bug reports with logs and steps in Jira; research solutions from docs.
• Customer Guidance: help apply documented best practices for sensor parameters and network settings.
• Knowledge Base Contributions: help maintain notes and troubleshooting guides.
• Customer Communication: support via email and live/video calls; participate in on-call rotation as skills grow.

Skills

Linux basics

Networking basics

Python scripting

ROS/ROS2 basics

Technical communication

Problem solving

Customer focus

Ownership & proactivity

Organization & collaboration

Job description

At Ouster, we build sensors and tools for engineers, roboticists, and researchers, so they can make the world safer and more efficient. We've transformed LIDAR from an analog device with thousands of components to an elegant digital device powered by one chip-scale laser array and one CMOS sensor. The result is a full range of high-resolution LIDAR sensors that deliver superior imaging at a dramatically lower price. Our advanced sensor hardware and vision algorithms are used in autonomous cars, drones and many other applications. If you're motivated by solving big problems, we're hiring key roles across the company and need your help!

Ouster is hiring an Associate Customer Success Engineer to help our robotics customers get the most out of our lidar sensors. This is a great entry point into technical customer support: you'll help customers get up and running, learn to troubleshoot hardware, firmware, networking, and software issues under the guidance of senior team members, track trending issues, and process returns. You'll build deep technical fluency with our products while developing the skills to grow into a more senior Customer Success Engineer role. All work is performed in compliance with policy guidelines and within timeframes defined in the team's SLAs and/or project requirements.

Key Responsibilities:

• Customer Integration & Onboarding:
  • Support post-sale technical onboarding, helping customers with sensor integration, network configuration, and software (SDK/API) setup, with guidance from senior engineers on more complex setups.
  • Help validate customer system architecture and sensor configurations against standard reference setups.
• Technical Triage & Resolution:
  • Field and triage inbound technical support requests, distinguishing between common hardware, firmware, networking, and software issues, escalating novel or complex cases to senior engineers.
  • Review sensor diagnostic logs and basic network captures (e.g., Wireshark) to help identify the likely source of an issue.
• Diagnostics & Troubleshooting:
  • Use command-line interfaces (CLI) and diagnostic software to work through known troubleshooting paths for sensor connectivity and data streaming (TCP/UDP) issues on Linux and Windows.
  • Help replicate customer environments and issues in the lab under the direction of senior team members.
• Engineering Collaboration:
  • Assist in escalating unresolved issues by authoring clear bug reports in a ticketing system (e.g., Jira), including logs, reproducible steps, and initial observations.
  • Research documented solutions using technical documentation, schematics, and internal knowledge bases, asking for help when you hit the edge of what's documented.
• Customer Guidance:
  • Help customers apply documented best practices for sensor parameters (e.g., resolution, rotation rate) and basic network settings.
• Knowledge Base Contributions:
  • Contribute to and help maintain application notes, troubleshooting guides, and knowledge base articles as you learn the product.
• Customer Communication:
  • Support customers via email and, as you build confidence, live video and phone troubleshooting calls.
  • May participate in an on-call rotation for lower-severity support coverage as skills develop; senior engineers remain the primary escalation point for mission-critical, after-hours issues.

Desired Qualities and Skills:

Technical Skills

• Linux Fundamentals: Working knowledge of Linux environments (Ubuntu preferred), including basic command-line use and navigating a system; willingness to build deeper system administration skills on the job.
• Networking Basics: Understanding of core networking principles (TCP/IP, UDP, DNS, DHCP) and interest in learning tools like tcpdump, Wireshark, ping, and netstat; exposure to VLANs or PTP (IEEE 1588) is a plus, not required.
• Scripting: Some experience with Python (coursework, personal projects, or professional) for basic scripting or log review is a plus.
• Robotics Frameworks (Bonus): Any exposure to ROS/ROS2 or tools like RViz is a plus, but not expected.

Professional Qualities

• Problem-Solving & Curiosity: An analytical, resourceful mindset with eagerness to learn how to troubleshoot technical problems and ask good questions.
• Technical Communication: Clear written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain technical issues to customers and teammates.
• Customer Focus: A patient, positive demeanor and genuine interest in helping customers succeed, even in stressful situations.
• Ownership & Proactivity: A strong sense of ownership for your assigned tickets, following up consistently and asking for help when needed.
• Organization & Collaboration: Good time-management skills and the ability to prioritize a dynamic workload while collaborating within a fast-paced team.

$80,000 - $100,000 a year

The base pay will be dependent on your skills, work experience, location, and qualifications. This role may also be eligible for equity & benefits.

We acknowledge the confidence gap at Ouster. You do not need to meet all of these requirements to be the ideal candidate for this role.

At Ouster we offer a range of competitive benefits, as we believe in taking care of our employees in all aspects of their lives.

• Our newly renovated office, located in the Mission District of San Francisco, is a dog-friendly workplace with a kitchen stocked with snacks, fresh fruit and drinks, and a complimentary dinner catered nightly.
• 15 vacation days/10 paid holidays annually
• paid parental leave
• pre-tax commuter or health care/dependent care accounts
• 401K match up to 4%
• medical, vision and dental plans with premiums covered at 100% for the employee and 75% for dependents (Cigna or Kaiser)
• life insurance
• short term disability and long term disability

Ouster offers the best benefit options available because we consider the well-being of our employees a top priority.

Ouster is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that pursues and hires a diverse workforce. Ouster does not make employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military status, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal laws. Ouster also strives for a healthy and safe workplace, and prohibits harassment of any kind. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Ouster considers qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.