Full Stack Robotics Software Engineer

Octavian Robotics, Inc.; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k)

Dental and vision insurance

Flexible spending account

Paid time off

Parental leave

Relocation package

Job summary

Octavian Robotics, based in Los Angeles, seeks the company\'s first robotics software engineer to design and implement software controlling robot hardware. You will work directly with the founders to shape the technology and product direction, while building foundational infrastructure.

Expect a challenging environment with long hours, limited hand-holding, and high stakes as the team tackles real-world tooling for surgical tool sterilization.

Qualifications

• Degree in CS, Computer Engineering or related field.
• Experience with Linux (systemd, journalctl, network manager, permissions).
• Experience in training RL or inference models for motor control.
• Experience working with hardware.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement software to control robots built by Octavian Robotics.
• Build and implement the initial infrastructure of the company.
• Collaborate with mechanical and electrical engineers to guide design decisions.
• Translate customer and company needs into software solutions with staff from customer success and sales.
• Train entry/mid-level software developers in the product lines' lifecycle.
• Remote and debug machine logs with engineers and customer success to understand issues.
• This is an on-site position; work on-site five days a week in Los Angeles.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication

Collaboration

AI-native workflows

Linux experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE or related

Tools

Python

Git

CI/CD pipelines

AWS

RESTful APIs

OAuth

Job description

Overview

Octavian Robotics is solving the #1 complication in the $3T surgical industry. We are building robots for the sterilization of surgical tools. Only now with generalized robotics models have we been able to tackle this problem and save lives.

This company is a spin-out from Sorting Robotics and we are inheriting a decade of robotics infrastructure and know-how. The role is for the first robotics software engineer at the company. You'll be working directly with the founders and learning from the previous team on how to build a robotics company. You'll need to be scrappy, a jack of all trades and a master of one, be able to communicate your ideas quickly and effectively, adapt to changing dynamics, have experience with robotics, and be able to push through the journey of building a new company.

This role is not for the faint of heart. You should expect to work 60+ hours a week, expect for there to be more problems than solutions, expect for you to have very little hand-holding, invent technology that didn't exist 6 months ago, expect to feel the pressure of performance when everyone in the room is depending on you and there are millions of dollars on the line. All this will be true, but you will also be in a room of people that respect you; where everyone is rowing together to achieve the noble goal of saving lives with our robotic systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement software to control machines developed by Octavian Robotics.
• Build and implement the initial infrastructure of the company.
• Work closely with mechanical and electrical engineers and guide design decisions based on what software can effectively accomplish.
• Work closely with customer success and sales staff to translate customer and company needs into software solutions.
• Train entry/mid-level software developers in the development lifecycle of the product lines you're working on.
• Work with engineers and customer success staff to remote and debug logs in the machine and understand customer problems.
• This is an on-site position. You're expected to work on-site with the other team members five days a week. We are based in Los Angeles.

Sometimes, nothing will work, and you'll need to conduct experiments until the problem's root cause (hardware or software-related) is fully understood.

Before writing any code, you must deeply understand complex topics and communicate proposed solutions to a highly technical team. Ideally, you write the minimum number of lines that solve the problem ("spin lock? Why not? It solves this problem" - "I'll just use a JSON file for now as a database so anyone can easily modify it").

Your work will be focused more on clear communication and business impact than on lines of code you can write or cool tech you can use.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with Python
• Familiarity with Git
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, AWS services
• Familiarity with web standards, RESTful APIs, OAuth

You will work on different parts of the stack at various times. We expect you to understand where everything goes and why, and we expect you to add to the stack to make the development process more robust.

• Must be AI-Native in all workflows
• Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related fields.
• Experience with Linux (systemd, journalctl, network manager, permissions).
• Experience in training VLA or inference models for motor control
• Experience working with Hardware.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

• $170,000 - $190,000 per year full-time salary.
• 401(k), health, dental and vision insurance, flexible spending account, paid time off, parental leave.
• Schedule: 12-hour shift, Monday - Saturday. This job is not for the weak of heart.
• In person, Van Nuys or Los Angeles, CA. Relocation package available.