Senior Autonomous Systems Software Engineer

Forterra; East Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Premium healthcare benefits

Life/AD&D insurance

Generous PTO

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Forterra in the United States is building autonomous ground systems and is seeking a software engineer to design, develop, and optimize C++ and Python components that drive middleware, data logging, and diagnostics across distributed robotic platforms. Join us to translate requirements into reliable code, validate safety and performance, and streamline unit and integration tests.

Candidates should have Linux experience, ROS/DDS, and be eligible for U.S. security clearance.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing in Linux-based environments.
• Hands-on experience with middleware frameworks and communication protocols (ROS, DDS, Protobuf, gRPC).
• Ability to write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code.
• Strong understanding of multi-threaded programming, concurrency, and performance optimization.
• Proven ability to design scalable systems and develop clean, intuitive APIs.
• Eligibility to obtain a U.S. Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize C++ and Python components supporting critical middleware, configuration management, data logging, and diagnostic subsystems in distributed robotic platforms.
• Translate high-level concepts and system requirements into reliable, maintainable software implementations.
• Analyze and validate software for safety, reliability, maintainability, testability, and system security across complex, mission-critical systems.
• Debug and triage real-world communication and networking challenges from deployed autonomous ground systems.
• Implement and maintain robust unit, integration, and system-level tests to ensure stability and performance.
• Profile, troubleshoot, and optimize software performance across multiple hardware and networked subsystems.
• Contribute to the evolution of our architecture, shaping how autonomous platforms communicate, share data, and operate in constrained environments.

Skills

Linux

Middleware

C++

Python

Multi-threading

APIs

ROS

DDS

Protobuf

gRPC

Security clearance

Tools

ROS

DDS

Protobuf

gRPC

Job description

Forterra in the United States is building autonomous ground systems and is seeking a software engineer to design, develop, and optimize C++ and Python components that drive middleware, data logging, and diagnostics across distributed robotic platforms. Join us to translate requirements into reliable code, validate safety and performance, and streamline unit and integration tests.

Candidates should have Linux experience, ROS/DDS, and be eligible for U.S. security clearance.