Senior Onboard Perception & Robotics Software Lead

Rivian; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 265,000 - 331,300; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) Plan

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Paid vacation

Job summary

Rivian in the San Francisco Bay Area is seeking a Perception Onboard Robotics Software Lead to direct the deterministic onboard software that augments core machine learning models and powers real-time safety functions and visualizations.

You will lead a team of robotics software engineers, define the architecture for the real-time runtime environment, and collaborate closely with ML and systems teams to bridge classical robotics with modern deep learning approaches.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Extensive experience developing production-grade onboard software for autonomous vehicles, robotics, or aerospace systems.
• Deep theoretical and practical knowledge of classical robotics concepts, e.g., state estimation, object tracking, or geometric computer vision.
• Expert-level proficiency in C++ with a focus on real-time constraints, execution speed, memory management, and concurrency.
• Proven track record delivering deterministic, safety-critical software architectures with strict latency and reliability requirements.
• Experience designing software-based safety monitors, fault-detection systems, or validation guardrails for complex runtime environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading or mentoring software and robotics teams.
• Strong cross-functional communication bridging classical robotics and modern ML paradigms.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, development, and optimization of deterministic onboard perception software, drawing on core robotics disciplines such as state estimation, multi-target tracking, or sensor fusion.
• Design and implement safety guardrails and runtime monitoring systems to validate and bound machine learning model outputs.
• Develop highly performant software to support critical system capabilities not covered by machine learning models, e.g., active safety layers or real-time HMI displays.
• Enforce rigorous software engineering standards with emphasis on speed, memory footprint, determinism, and automated testing.
• Recruit, mentor, and manage a team of robotics software engineers, setting technical direction and driving execution.
• Collaborate with ML and systems architecture teams to integrate classical robotics with deep learning pipelines.

Skills

C++ proficiency

Real-time systems

Robotics

Leadership

Cross-functional communication

Deterministic software design

Education

Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in Robotics/CS/EE/Aerospace or related

Job description

Rivian in the San Francisco Bay Area is seeking a Perception Onboard Robotics Software Lead to direct the deterministic onboard software that augments core machine learning models and powers real-time safety functions and visualizations.

You will lead a team of robotics software engineers, define the architecture for the real-time runtime environment, and collaborate closely with ML and systems teams to bridge classical robotics with modern deep learning approaches.