Senior Autonomy Architect – Underwater Robotics

bedrockocean; Richmond (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 235,000; Full time

Job summary

Bedrock Ocean Exploration in Richmond, CA seeks a Staff Robotics Engineer to set the technical direction for autonomy and vehicle software across a growing fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles. You will own the architecture tying onboard software, GNC, sensing, and mission autonomy, ensuring robust operation across long campaigns.

You will lead cross-disciplinary robotics problems, drive standards, and champion practical AI adoption, bridging hardware, sensing, and software to deliver

Qualifications

• 8+ years in robotics or autonomous-systems software in production
• Deep experience designing robust, modular vehicle software architectures
• Strong C++/Python fundamentals and hands-on ROS/ROS 2 experience

Responsibilities

• Own architecture of vehicle software system for modular design and interoperability
• Lead cross-disciplinary robotics problems end-to-end; plan future missions
• Set high standards for building, testing, and validating vehicle software
• Drive rigorous testing across simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and field trials
• Improve autonomy for long, continuous missions with minimal intervention
• Manage fault detection, health monitoring, and safe-state behaviors for unattended operation
• Support on-call rotations; build runbooks, telemetry, and escalation paths

Skills

C++/Python

ROS/ROS 2

GNC/state estimation

Fault detection & recovery (FDIR)

Clear communication

Tools

ROS

Job description

Bedrock Ocean Exploration in Richmond, CA seeks a Staff Robotics Engineer to set the technical direction for autonomy and vehicle software across a growing fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles. You will own the architecture tying onboard software, GNC, sensing, and mission autonomy, ensuring robust operation across long campaigns.

You will lead cross-disciplinary robotics problems, drive standards, and champion practical AI adoption, bridging hardware, sensing, and software to deliver