Senior Perception Software Engineer

Pickle Robot Company; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Unlimited vacation

Paid federal and state holidays

401(k) contributions 5%

Company-covered travel expenses

Job summary

Pickle Robot Company is seeking a Senior Perception Software Engineer to advance perception for our warehousing robots. You will work on localization, mapping, and sensor fusion using 3D LiDAR, IMUs, and cameras, writing production-grade software in Python and C++. This is an on-site role at our HQ.

You will build robust perception stacks, optimize real-time processing, and align sensor data with machine learning outputs to enable safe, efficient autonomous operations in dynamic environments.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of robotics software engineering or an MS with 3+ years in industry.
• Strong production-grade software fundamentals in Python and C++.
• Solid background in linear algebra, geometry, and probabilistic robotics.
• Hands-on experience with perception stacks (ROS/ROS2, OpenCV, Open3D).
• Experience with 3D LiDARs, IMUs, and cameras.

Responsibilities

• Drive the accuracy of localization and state estimation pipelines for the robot.
• Develop obstacle mapping for collision avoidance in messy environments.
• Implement and optimize real-time point cloud processing algorithms.
• Integrate perception outputs with ML models into production codebase.
• Improve multi-sensor calibration routines and ensure spatial alignment.

Skills

Robotics software

Python

C++

Mathematics

Perception stacks

Education

MS in related field

Tools

ROS/ROS2

OpenCV

Open3D

Eigen

Git

Job description

About Us

At Pickle Robot, we're on a mission to automate global supply chains with Physical AI. Our robots work alongside warehouse teams to unload trucks and containers — one of the toughest, most understaffed jobs in logistics — making the work safer, faster, and more efficient for the people doing it. Loading trucks comes next, followed by the Dill Autonomy Engine: generalized autonomy that will eventually orchestrate robots across entire logistics processes.

We're looking for a dynamic, driven Senior Perception Software Engineer to help revolutionize the future of warehouse automation. This role will focus heavily on working with 3D LiDAR and other multi-sensor arrays to tackle complex challenges in state estimation, scene perception, mapping, and localization. You will play a crucial part in writing robust, production-grade software that translates raw sensor data into actionable intelligence for our robots operating in dynamic, real-world unloading docks.

What You'll Do

• Drive the accuracy and precision of our localization and state estimation pipelines. Ensure reliable pose estimation of the robot's mobile base and scene components.
• Develop advanced obstacle mapping for collision avoidance that thrives in messy environments.
• Implement and optimize point cloud processing algorithms tailored for real-time edge compute.
• Architect a robust software stack that efficiently parses and interfaces with the outputs of our machine learning models, integrating novel perception pipelines seamlessly into the core production codebase.
• Improve and automate multi-sensor calibration routines. You will manage tolerance stacks and ensure high-fidelity spatial alignment across our sensor suites, guaranteeing a single source of truth for the robot.

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years of experience in robotics software engineering (or an MS with 3+ years of highly relevant industry experience).
• Exceptional software engineering fundamentals, highly proficient in Python and C++ for production systems.
• Strong mathematical foundation in linear algebra, geometry, and probabilistic robotics.
• Hands‑on experience building perception stacks using industry‑standard tools and frameworks, including ROS/ROS2, OpenCV, Open3D, Eigen, and Git.
• Hands‑on experience with sensor stacks including 3D LiDARs, IMUs, and cameras.
• You are a "full-stack" robotics engineer who cares about accuracy, precision, and edge cases in the physical world and can articulate architectural trade-offs to drive the best system-level decisions.
• Nice to have: Experience with optimization libraries (Ceres Solver, GTSAM), parallel computing (CUDA), Docker, and PCL.
• Location Requirement: This role is on-site at our HQ, working directly with the physical sensor rigs and robots.

$170,000 - $190,000 a year

Pay at Pickle

At Pickle Robot Company, we believe transparency builds trust. The salary range listed here is provided in accordance with Massachusetts law and reflects what we reasonably and in good faith expect to offer for this role. We often consider candidates at different levels of seniority, and final compensation will reflect the level at which a candidate is hired, along with factors like experience and location.

Pickle Perks

Pickle provides best-in-class benefits, including health, dental, and vision insurance; unlimited vacation; paid federal and state holidays; 401(k) contributions of 5% of your salary; company-covered travel expenses; and other perks to make your working life more fun, comfortable, and productive.