Senior Software Engineer, Autonomy Core Frameworks

torcrobotics; United States; Remote; USD 161,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employer-paid medical, dental, vision

401(k) match

Flexible scheduling

Paid vacation

Life and accidental death coverage

Job summary

torc robotics is seeking a senior software architect to set the technical direction for foundational software frameworks used by autonomous driving systems. You will shape architecture and implement real-time C++ components, enabling autonomy teams to build reliable, testable, and maintainable software for automated freight vehicles.

You will own the architectural direction, guide patterns for state management, messaging, and observability, and collaborate with perception and behavior teams to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with required years of software experience.
• Proven ownership of architecture for complex production software platforms.
• Strong C++17+ and Python scripting experience.
• Experience in autonomous/robotics or distributed/embedded software.
• Strong modular design, concurrency, testing, CI, and maintainability.
• Ability to lead discussions and mentor engineers across teams.

Responsibilities

• Architect and evolve core frameworks for state management, component communication, and utilities.
• Guide real-time software patterns for data flow, coordination, error handling, and observability.
• Make long-term design decisions balancing tradeoffs for scalable autonomy.
• Collaborate with behavior and perception teams to maintain clear interfaces.
• Lead design reviews; establish standards for reliability and testing.
• Mentor engineers and guide validation, simulation, and RCA improvements.

Skills

C++17+ experience

Python scripting

Autonomous systems experience

Distributed/embedded software

Modular design

Concurrency

Testing & CI

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Robotics/EE

Master’s degree (optional)

Tools

ROS 2

Bazel

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

Job description

Role overview

Set technical direction for the foundational software frameworks used by an autonomous driving system. You will shape architecture and implementation for real-time C++ components, helping autonomy teams build reliable, testable, and maintainable systems for automated freight vehicles.

Responsibilities

• Architect and evolve core frameworks for state management, component communication, shared abstractions, and common utilities.
• Guide real-time software patterns for system-wide data flow, component coordination, error handling, and observability.
• Make and communicate long-term design decisions, weighing tradeoffs in support of scalable autonomy capabilities.
• Collaborate with behavior and perception teams to maintain clear integration boundaries and coherent shared interfaces.
• Lead design, architecture, and code reviews; establish standards for reliability, maintainability, and testing.
• Mentor engineers and guide validation, simulation, root-cause analysis, and architectural improvements.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, robotics, electrical engineering, or a related discipline with at least eight years of professional software experience; alternatively, a master’s degree with at least six years.
• Demonstrated ownership of architecture for complex production software platforms.
• Deep experience with C++17 or newer and practical scripting in Python.
• Background in autonomous systems, robotics, distributed systems, or complex embedded software using publish-subscribe middleware.
• Strong grounding in modular design, concurrency, testing, continuous integration, and long-term maintainability.
• Ability to lead technical discussions, mentor engineers, and communicate architecture decisions across teams.

Nice to have

Experience with ROS 2 or other robotics middleware; distributed systems concepts such as state synchronization or event-driven design; safety standards including ISO 26262 or ASPICE; Bazel, Jenkins, or GitHub Actions; observability systems; simulation-based regression testing; or data schema versioning.

Benefits and work setup

The stated U.S. hiring range is $160,800-$193,000, with a bonus component and stock options. Benefits include employer-paid medical, dental, and vision premiums, a 401(k) match, flexible scheduling, paid vacation, and life and accidental death coverage.