Senior Software Engineer - Runtime Platform, Robot Software

Wayve; Sacramento (CA); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 267,000; Full time

Job summary

Wayve in Sunnyvale, CA, is seeking a highly capable Robot Software Engineer to join the Runtime Platform and Embodied AI teams. You will help build a reliable, scalable software stack for on‑road experimentation and model development, ensuring efficient compute use across the fleet.

You will analyze latency, instrument code, and collaborate with cross‑functional teams to optimize performance, reduce bottlenecks, and support new features that advance autonomous driving capabilities.

Qualifications

• High-performance embedded Linux software development in C++.
• Experience profiling and optimizing system bottlenecks.
• Strong understanding of OS scheduling and computer architecture.

Responsibilities

• Investigate latency and performance bottlenecks across the software stack.
• Instrument code with profiling tools to collect performance data.
• Integrate and evaluate new profiling tools to benchmark system performance.
• Collaborate with multiple teams to understand pain points and prioritize optimization.
• Optimize critical code paths to improve runtime efficiency and reduce latency.

Skills

Embedded Linux

C++

Performance profiling

OS scheduling

Thread synchronization

Tools

NV NSight

Grafana

Datadog

Databricks

Momentics

Job description

About Us

Founded in 2017, Wayve is the leading developer of Embodied AI technology. Our advanced AI software and foundation models enable vehicles to perceive, understand, and navigate any complex environment, enhancing the usability and safety of automated driving systems. Our vision is to create autonomy that propels the world forward. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic AI products are designed for automakers, accelerating the transition from assisted to automated driving. In our fast-paced environment big problems ignite us— we embrace uncertainty, leaning into complex challenges to unlock groundbreaking solutions. We aim high and stay humble in our pursuit of excellence, constantly learning and evolving as we pave the way for a smarter, safer future. At Wayve, your contributions matter. We value diversity, embrace new perspectives, and foster an inclusive work environment; we back each other to deliver impact. Make Wayve the experience that defines your career!

The role

The Robot Software team is responsible for the software that runs on our internal fleet of vehicles to enable autonomous driving and collect data for training new driving models. You will join a motivated and talented team of engineers to deliver a reliable, stable and flexible software stack to support on‑road experimentation by our model developers and scientists. Your work will enable these teams to iterate quickly and gather the data they need to improve our autonomous driving capabilities and support new product features, which is critical to the success of Wayve’s mission. The Runtime Platform team equips all Wayve teams with the observability, profiling tools, and infrastructure needed to understand and optimise software performance across our development fleet. We work closely with teams to investigate issues, reduce bottlenecks, and promote best practices. Our work enhances core onboard components to ensure efficient use of compute and a solid foundation for running model experiments at scale. We also provide the tooling and infrastructure needed to quickly detect, diagnose, and address performance regressions, helping teams move faster with greater confidence.

Key Responsibilities

• Investigate latency and performance bottlenecks across the entire software stack
• Instrument code with profiling tools and metrics to collect performance data and identify optimization opportunities
• Integrate and evaluate new profiling and instrumentation tools to benchmark system performance and establish baselines
• Collaborate with multiple teams to understand their performance pain points and prioritize optimization efforts based on impact
• Optimize critical code paths and algorithms to improve runtime efficiency, reduce latency, and enhance overall system performance

About you

Essential

• Software Development Skills: Proficiency developing high-performance embedded Linux systems software in C++. Demonstrated ability to manage the complete software development lifecycle from ideation through delivery & optimizationProficiency with performance profiling tools and techniques for identifying and resolving system bottlenecksProven track record of methodical experiment evaluationStrong technical background on OS scheduling, computer architecture (memory hierarchy, CPU caches, context switches, …), and thread synchronisation

Desirable

• Familiarity with Nvidia performance tools such as NV NSight, NV Lumos and tegrastat
• Familiarity with observability tools such as Grafana (logs, metrics, traces), Databricks, Datadog
• Familiarity with QNX and Momentics is a plus

This role is a full-time role based in Sunnyvale, CA (hybrid) and the reasonably estimated salary for this role ranges from $209,700 to $266,800, plus a competitive equity package. Actual compensation is based on the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience.

Wayve is committed to creating an inclusive interview experience. If you require any accommodations or adjustments to participate fully in our interview process, please let us know. We understand that everyone has a unique set of skills and experiences and that not everyone will meet all of the requirements listed above. If you’re passionate about self-driving cars and think you have what it takes to make a positive impact on the world, we encourage you to apply.

At Wayve we're committed to creating a diverse, fair and respectful culture that is inclusive of everyone based on their unique skills and perspectives, and regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law.

For more information visit Careers at Wayve.

To learn more about what drives us, visit Values at Wayve

For US candidates only, please visit E-Verify Notice and Participation and Right to Work

DISCLAIMER: We will not ask about marriage or pregnancy, care responsibilities or disabilities in any of our job adverts or interviews. However, we do look to capture information about care responsibilities, and disabilities among other diversity information as part of an optional DEI Monitoring form to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring process and ensure that the process is inclusive and non-discriminatory.