Lead Cloud Engineer

Cyngn; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental and Vision Insurance

401(k) plan

Job summary

Cyngn Inc. is seeking a Cloud Engineering Lead to own the architecture and development of its fleet management software.

You will be the founding member of a new Cloud team, shape its roadmap, and contribute hands-on to software development while mentoring Cloud/DevOps engineers. The role emphasizes technical leadership and collaboration with Product, Robotics, and Platform teams to deliver reliable systems.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering with backend or distributed systems
• Proven technical leadership including architectural decision-making and roadmap development
• Deep software engineering expertise in Python, Go, Java, or C++, with production experience
• Designing distributed systems, APIs, real-time comms, and data management across fleets or edge devices
• Experience deploying and operating prod apps across cloud and on-prem environments (AWS and Kubernetes)
• CI/CD, IaC, automation, observability, and failure recovery practices
• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to explain architecture to engineers and leaders
• Bachelor's or higher in CS/Engineering; robotics/IoT domain experience is a plus
• Familiarity with MQTT/AMQP, ROS 2 concepts, and VDA5050 interoperability
• Terraform, GitOps, and automated infrastructure management
• Experience managing software engineers and performance development
• AI-assisted development and agentic workflows to improve productivity

Responsibilities

• Own the delivery of Cyngn's fleet management and accompanying applications across cloud and on‑prem environments
• Lead architecture decisions to balance performance, scale, security and maintainability
• Design and implement distributed backend services, APIs, and real-time communication
• Contribute hands‑on to software development, reviews, and debugging while upholding engineering standards
• Develop and maintain the Cloud engineering roadmap with Product and other teams
• Recruit, mentor, and develop Cloud and DevOps engineers, fostering technical judgment and accountability

Skills

Cloud architecture

Leadership

Distributed systems

Python

Go

Java

C++

AWS

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Terraform

GitOps

ROS 2

MQTT

AMQP

Education

Bachelor's or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

Terraform

GitOps

ROS 2

MQTT

AMQP

Job description

Cyngn develops autonomous driving technology for industrial vehicles operating in factories, warehouses and other commercial facilities. Our engineers work across software, hardware and field operations to turn robotics capabilities into dependable products used by customers.

About this role

As Cloud Engineering Lead, you will take ownership of the architecture and development of Cyngn's fleet management software and supporting applications across cloud-hosted and on-premises environments. You will be the founding member of a new Cloud team, setting its technical roadmap and helping hire the team around you. You will contribute hands‑on to software development, provide technical leadership to Cloud and DevOps engineers, and collaborate with Product, Robotics, and Platform teams to align priorities and deliver reliable systems. The role offers opportunities for formal people management, but prioritizes deep technical expertise and demonstrated engineering leadership.

Responsibilities

• Own the delivery of Cyngn's fleet management and supporting applications, including mission coordination, vehicle monitoring, over-the-air (OTA) software updates, vehicle configuration management (VCMS), and customer integrations. Lead the redesign of key systems toward production maturity and scale.
• Act as the proactive owner of architecture across the Cloud platform and how it connects to the vehicle, platform, and software-update systems. Guide architectural decisions and resolve technical trade-offs across the Cloud software platform, balancing performance, scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Design and implement distributed backend services, APIs, and real-time communication systems supporting fleet operations across multiple vehicles and customer sites, including environments with intermittent connectivity and local (on-premises) compute.
• Contribute hands‑on to software development, code reviews, and complex debugging, while establishing engineering standards for software quality, testing, and maintainability.
• Develop and maintain the Cloud engineering roadmap in partnership with Product and adjacent engineering teams, balancing product priorities, technical debt, and DevOps improvements while managing dependencies and delivery risks.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop Cloud and DevOps engineers, building the team and strengthening technical judgment, accountability, and engineering effectiveness.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience developing production backend or distributed systems. Equivalent experience and scope considered.
• Demonstrated technical leadership, including architectural decision-making, engineering roadmap development, cross-team coordination, and mentoring engineers.
• Deep software engineering expertise in at least one of Python, Go, Java, or C++, with substantial hands‑on experience developing and operating production software.
• Strong experience designing distributed systems, including service-oriented architectures, asynchronous messaging, real-time communication, APIs, and data management, with experience addressing connectivity and reliability challenges including across fleets of distributed or edge devices (IoT, robotics, or other connected hardware) and software distribution to those devices
• Experience designing, deploying, and operating production applications across cloud-hosted and on-premises environments, with practical knowledge of AWS or comparable cloud platforms, Kubernetes or comparable container orchestration, containerization, networking, and security.
• Working knowledge of modern software deployment and DevOps practices, including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, configuration management, automated rollouts, observability, and failure recovery.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain architectural decisions to engineers, product partners, and leadership.
• Interest in leading and developing a small team. Prior formal management experience is not required.
• Bachelor's or higher degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience developing software for robotics, autonomous vehicles, IoT platforms, industrial automation, or connected-device fleets.
• Familiarity with WMS, WES, or ERP integrations, messaging technologies such as MQTT or AMQP, ROS 2 publish/subscribe concepts, or interoperability standards such as VDA5050.
• Experience with Terraform, GitOps, and automated infrastructure management.
• Experience formally managing software engineers, including performance management and career development.
• Practical application of AI-assisted development and agentic workflows to improve software quality and engineering productivity
• Health benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision) through Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, and
• Guardian, with multiple plan tiers to choose from
• Ancillary benefits including accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity plans (Voya)
• Company-paid basic life insurance, plus voluntary (supplemental) life for you and your dependents
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance plans, fully paid by Cyngn
• HSA and FSA (Health & Dependent Daycare)
• Employee Assistance Program
• Company 401(k)Flexible PTO policy
• Sabbatical leave opportunity after 5 years with the company
• Daily lunches for in-office employees and fully-stocked kitchen with snacks and beverages