Senior Software Engineer, Mapping

ALSO.; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

One Medical membership

Fertility and family building benefits

Flexible time off

401(k) match

Job summary

ALSO. in Palo Alto, California is looking for a talented backend engineer to lead the development of their innovative navigation system for electric vehicles. This role offers a unique opportunity to work on a groundbreaking project without legacy constraints. The ideal candidate has solid experience with Golang, AWS, and real-time system design. The salary ranges from $165,000 to $210,000 per year, complemented by robust health benefits and a flexible time off policy.

Qualifications

• Strong backend engineering experience in a production-grade environment.
• Proven ability to architect and ship complex systems in a startup or 0→1 product environment.
• Deep understanding of real-time or near real-time system design.

Responsibilities

• Own the implementation of our flagship navigation experience.
• Integrate with external mapping/navigation APIs.
• Collaborate with firmware, mobile, and product teams.

Skills

Backend engineering experience

Golang

AWS

Real-time system design

Mapping and navigation platforms

Communication skills

System design mindset

Job description

About ALSO

We’re ALSO, an electric mobility company originally conceived as a part of Rivian. We’re a passionate team of builders, dreamers, doers and innovators, focused on creating entirely new (not to mention, innovative and delightful) vertically integrated, small EVs designed to meet the global mobility challenges of today and tomorrow. Our mission is to inspire everyone to ride ALSO—replacing many local car, truck and SUV miles with ones on vehicles that are more affordable, more enjoyable and 10‑50x more efficient.

The Role

At ALSO, we’re reimagining how people move through the world—starting with the ride itself. This role is a rare opportunity to lead the development of our end‑to‑end navigation experience from the ground up. As one of our earliest engineering hires, you’ll shape the cloud, mobile, and on‑vehicle architecture that powers intelligent, vehicle‑specific routing and real‑time, on‑vehicle navigation that doesn’t exist in the market today. You’ll collaborate closely with experts in firmware and mobile to bring a modern, thoughtful navigation solution to life.

This is a greenfield opportunity: no legacy systems, no entrenched technical debt—just the chance to architect a clean, scalable system using best‑in‑class tools. You’ll work in a fast‑moving, high‑ownership environment where decisions you make today will shape the product and user experience for years to come.

What You Will Do

• Own the implementation of our flagship navigation experience, from routing to rendering.
• Integrate with external mapping/navigation APIs to power route planning, turn‑by‑turn directions, and rich map metadata.
• Collaborate with firmware, mobile, and product teams to define the navigation system interface between bike hardware, the mobile app, and cloud services.
• Design robust, low‑latency APIs and cloud systems that handle location, routing logic, vehicle‑specific optimizations, and data synchronization.
• Enable critical edge cases like offline fallback, route recalculation, device reconnects, and display rendering on constrained hardware.
• Work alongside the firmware engineer to define BLE protocols and vector graphic rendering constraints for the bike’s microcontroller‑powered display.
• Shape our engineering culture and development practices through documentation, mentoring, and hands‑on leadership.

What You Will Bring

• Strong backend engineering experience in a production‑grade environment, ideally using Golang and AWS.
• Proven ability to architect and ship complex systems in a fast‑moving startup or 0→1 product environment.
• Deep understanding of real‑time or near real‑time system design—especially in latency‑sensitive use cases.
• Extensive experience with mapping and navigation platforms and integration (e.g., Google Maps APIs, Mapbox, HERE, TomTom).
• Excellent technical judgment and a system design mindset that balances robustness, performance, and maintainability.
• Comfort working cross‑functionally with firmware, mobile, and product stakeholders.
• Strong communication and documentation skills.
• Bonus: Familiarity with BLE, GPS, and/or hardware‑software interfaces.

The salary for this position ranges from $165,000 to $210,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications.

Perks And Benefits

• Robust health coverage. Excellent health, dental and vision insurance covered up to 100% by ALSO with FSA & HSA options.
• One Medical membership and dedicated insurance advocates.
• Rich fertility and family building benefits with Progyny.
• Flexible time off.
• 401(k) match.

Why ALSO

We’re passionate about helping the world find a better way to get there—wherever it’s you’re headed. We’re located in the heart of Silicon Valley and have brought together a world‑class team from some of the biggest brands in technology, automotive, cycling, outdoor recreation and retail spaces. Together we’re working hands‑on to imagine, design and build an entirely new solution to a global set of transportation challenges.