Robotic Engineering

TerraFirma; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in TerraFirma

Relocation package

Job summary

TerraFirma is seeking a skilled robotics software engineer to design perception systems for autonomous heavy machinery. You will integrate sensors, build real-time processing pipelines for images, point clouds, and multi-sensor data, and collaborate across teams to drive reliable perception and control.

You’ll work on embedded robotics software in Linux environments, implement real-time algorithms in C++/Python, train ML models, and help production deployments.

Qualifications

• S. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field.
• ~2+ years of professional or project experience with robotic software development, involving implementation of real‑time algorithms for perception and data processing pipelines.
• ~ Experience working with embedded applications for robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, automotive, or construction.
• Proficiency in C++ and Python, including development for Linux‑based systems and bare‑metal MCUs.
• Experience training, testing, optimizing, and deploying online and offline machine learning models with existing and custom datasets.
• Experience implementing algorithms or pipelines for robotic systems or feedback control from scratch in C++ or Python.
• Experience performing object detection on multiple data sources including multi‑spectral images and point clouds.
• Experience programming FPGAs for high‑throughput networking, compression, or DSP.

Responsibilities

• Design perception systems for autonomous heavy machinery and integrate sensors.
• Build real-time data processing pipelines for images, point clouds, and multi-sensor streams.
• Collaborate across perception, motion/trajectory planning, and control teams to enable safe operations.
• Develop and test ML models and supporting data collection/ labeling workflows.
• Create simulation and visualization tools to speed up robotic software prototyping.
• Own sensor integration, calibration, and testing from prototype to production.

Education

S. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field

Job description

Job Description At TerraFirma, we’re redefining how the world moves earth for construction. Founded by former SpaceX engineers and backed by Kleiner Perkins and Bain Capital Ventures, TerraFirma is automating construction to make it faster, cheaper, and safer.

At SpaceX, we were part of the teams that built the largest rocket in human history, launched the largest constellation of satellites ever made, and delivered connectivity to millions of people worldwide. At Starbase, the biggest barrier to launching missions to Mars was not building the rocket. We lacked buildings, roads, water, power, communications, and waste management, and constructing them took far more time and resources than it should have.

It shouldn't be this hard or costly to create the foundations for progress. That’s when we realized something important: the same engineering mindset that enabled us to tackle space exploration and mass manufacturing could be applied to infrastructure. By bringing the principles of simplification, iteration, acceleration, and automation to construction, we can unlock a new era in how the world builds.

Accelerating infrastructure unlocks progress across every domain, creating a self‑sustaining engine for tackling humanity’s toughest challenges. The innovations we develop on Earth will lay the groundwork for the technologies that one day make settlement on Mars possible.

You will design and implement the perception systems that give our automated heavy machinery the awareness needed to operate effectively in complex, unstructured environments. This role combines high‑level architecture decisions with hands‑on algorithm development, hardware integration, and field testing. You will work across the perception stack, from integrating and calibrating advanced sensors to building real‑time processing pipelines for images, point clouds, and other high‑bandwidth data streams. Integrate multi‑spectral and TOF sensors into robotic systems with real‑time processing constraints

Work with motion and trajectory planning teams to design and synthesize sensor systems to extract required signals and inputs

Implement algorithms to efficiently detect objects of interest from incoming data streams for the purposes of collision avoidance, motion planning, and trajectory planning

Stitch together and manipulate camera feeds and data from other sensors to effectively visualize the state of physical systems to human operators

Develop real‑time pipelines for processing, sharing, and fusing data from multiple sensor sources

Train Machine Learning (ML) models on existing and custom datasets and support collection and labeling of data for additional training and validation

Develop simulation and visualization tools to aid in rapid prototyping of robotic software and control algorithms

Own the integration, calibration, and testing of sensors, both for proof‑of‑concept prototypes and production systems

S. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field

~2+ years of professional or project experience with robotic software development, involving implementation of real‑time algorithms for perception and data processing pipelines

~ Experience working with embedded applications for robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, automotive, or construction

Proficiency in C++ and Python, including development for Linux‑based systems and bare‑metal MCUs

Experience training, testing, optimizing, and deploying online and offline machine learning models with existing and custom datasets

Experience implementing algorithms or pipelines for robotic systems or feedback control from scratch in C++ or Python

Experience performing object detection on multiple data sources including multi‑spectral images and point clouds

Experience programming FPGAs for high‑throughput networking, compression, or DSP

Must be willing to work extended hours or weekends when needed to support critical deadlines or triage urgent deployment issues

Must be willing to relocate to Austin, TX if not within commuting distance

Our total compensation package also includes equity in TerraFirma. Relocation packages are available to help cover moving costs, if applicable.