Lead Robotics Software Engineer

Auxo Talent; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & equity

Disability and commuter benefits

Flexible working days & unlimited PTO

Job summary

Auxo Talent partners with an early-stage robotics company in San Francisco seeking a Lead Robotics Software Engineer to shape the platform’s technology and engineering organization.

This hands-on leadership role combines software development, robotics AI, system architecture and team building, with significant influence over technical direction. You will mentor engineers, work with hardware teams, deploy production-quality software, and drive scalable robotics software across multi-modal sensors.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of robotics AI/ML experience for vehicles or autonomous platforms.
• PhD or advanced degree in Robotics, CS, AI/ML or related discipline.
• 8+ years working with AI/ML or robotics software for automated or semi-automated vehicles.

Responsibilities

• Develop and improve AI/ML models supporting perception, prediction, tracking and localisation.
• Design and evolve the core robotics software architecture for scalability as platform and fleet grow.
• Work with multi-modal sensor data to develop robust vehicle perception and AI capabilities.
• Build data collection, evaluation and validation pipelines to support rapid model and software iteration.
• Write, review and deploy production-quality software into real-world environments.
• Establish engineering best practices and shape the team's technical roadmap.
• Mentor engineers, interns and contractors while supporting recruitment and onboarding.
• Collaborate with hardware and robotics teams to solve system-level challenges.

Skills

Robotics AI/ML

Multi-modal sensor data

Software architecture

Production-grade software

Team leadership

AI/ML deployment

Education

PhD or advanced degree in Robotics/CS/AI

Tools

LLM/AI coding tools

Robotics hardware integration

Job description

Salary: $180,000 - $250,000 (Dependant on experience)

The Opportunity

We’re working with an early-stage robotics company developing advanced technology for the public transportation sector. The team is now building its first production-ready platform and is looking for a Lead Robotics Software Engineer to play a foundational role in both the technology and engineering organisation.

This is a hands‑on leadership position in the first instance, combining software development, robotics AI, system architecture and team building. You’ll work closely with the founding team and have significant influence over the technical direction of the product.

What You’ll Do

• Develop and improve AI/ML models supporting perception, prediction, tracking and localisation.
• Design and evolve the core robotics software architecture, ensuring it can scale as the platform and fleet grow.
• Work with multi-modal sensor data to develop robust vehicle-focused perception and AI capabilities.
• Build data collection, evaluation and validation pipelines to support rapid model and software iteration.
• Write, review and deploy production-quality software into real-world environments.
• Establish engineering best practices and help shape the team's technical roadmap.
• Mentor engineers, interns and contractors while supporting the recruitment and onboarding of future team members.
• Work closely with hardware and robotics teams to solve complex system-level challenges.

What We’re Looking For

• 6+ years of experience developing robotics AI/ML systems, particularly for vehicles or autonomous/semi-autonomous platforms.
• Strong experience training and deploying AI models using multi-modal sensor data.
• Proven ability to design and build complex robotics software architectures that are maintainable and scalable.
• Strong software engineering skills with the ability to produce high-quality production code.
• Experience working across the robotics stack rather than within a narrowly defined software function.
• Comfortable operating in an early-stage environment, taking ownership and moving quickly from concept through to deployment.
• Experience using LLM/AI coding tools effectively while maintaining strong engineering standards.
• PhD or advanced degree in Robotics, Computer Science, AI/ML or a related discipline.
• 8+ years working with AI/ML, reinforcement learning or robotics software for automated or semi-automated vehicles.
• Hands‑on experience integrating software with robotic hardware and sensors.
• Previous experience as a founding engineer, technical lead or engineering manager.
• Experience building products that have been deployed and tested in real-world environments.

What’s On Offer

• Competitive salary and early-stage equity.
• Disability and commuter benefits.
• Flexible working days alongside unlimited PTO.
• The opportunity to join at an early stage and have significant influence over the product, technology and engineering team.