Senior System Software Engineer, Robotics

NVIDIA Corporation; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 288,000; Full time

Job summary

NVIDIA Corporation in Santa Clara is seeking a Senior System Software Engineer for its Robotics Team, focusing on humanoid robots and embodied intelligence. You will develop system software, runtimes, tools, and workflows to deploy embodied AI on real robots and in simulation.

You will collaborate with AI, simulation, hardware, platform, and partner teams; own issues end-to-end; contribute to architecture; expect strong Linux, real-time systems, and distributed software expertise.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of robotics, embedded, platform, distributed, or system software experience.
• Strong knowledge of Linux, embedded software, distributed computing, and real-time systems.
• Experience bringing up, debugging, and deploying complex robotic systems on physical hardware and simulation.

Responsibilities

• Develop system software, runtime components, tools, and workflows for embodied AI on real robots.
• Optimize model execution and system performance across compute, memory, networking, sensors, and actuators.
• Build validation, testing, benchmarking, and observability infrastructure spanning simulation, hardware-in-the-loop environments, and physical robots.
• Measure and improve end-to-end latency, determinism, throughput, reliability, resource utilization, and startup performance.
• Debug complex issues across application software, middleware, OS, drivers, and hardware.
• Collaborate with AI, simulation, hardware, platform, and partner teams to validate and harden robotic systems for real-world deployment.

Skills

Linux

Robotics software

Embedded systems

Real-time systems

Distributed computing

Leadership

Communication

Education

BS/MS/PhD in CS/EE/Robotics

Tools

HIL testing

Job description

We are now looking for a Senior System Software Engineer to join our Robotics Team, with a strong focus on humanoid robots and embodied intelligence. For two decades, NVIDIA has pioneered visual computing through the invention of the GPU, the engine of modern accelerated computing. Today, this foundation powers breakthroughs across gaming, film, scientific research, autonomous machines, and robotics. Our team is building a robotics platform for the next generation of intelligent robots, including humanoid systems. NVIDIA’s Isaac Robotics Platform brings together high-fidelity physical and visual simulation, scalable system software, optimized robotics and AI algorithms, and powerful edge computing platforms to serve as the brain of intelligent machines. You will work with experts across robotics, systems, AI, and simulation to enable real-world deployment of embodied AI on humanoid robots, and help shape how foundation models and learning-based policies are integrated into production robotic systems.

What you’ll be doing:

Develop system software, runtime components, tools, and workflows that enable reliable, performant deployment of embodied AI models on real robots.

Optimize model execution and system performance across compute, memory, networking, sensors, and actuators.

Build validation, testing, benchmarking, and observability infrastructure spanning simulation, hardware-in-the-loop environments, and physical robots.

Measure and improve critical system-level metrics, including end-to-end latency, determinism, throughput, reliability, resource utilization, and startup performance.

Debug complex issues across application software, middleware, operating systems, device drivers, firmware, and hardware.

Work with AI, simulation, hardware, platform, and partner teams to bring up, validate, and harden robotic systems for real-world deployment.

Own technical issues through investigation, root-cause analysis, resolution, and field validation.

Contribute to architectural decisions, review code, and uphold high standards for system software quality, maintainability, and operational readiness.

What we need to see:

BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or a related field (or equivalent experience). 5+ years of experience developing robotics, embedded, platform, distributed, or system software. Strong understanding of robotics system architecture, platform software, and hardware-software integration. Hands-on experience bringing up, debugging, and deploying complex robotic systems on both physical hardware and simulation. Strong knowledge of Linux, embedded software, distributed computing, and real-time systems. Proven ability to provide technical leadership and deliver complex projects across multiple functions. Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate with teams across global organizations.

Ways to stand out from your crowd:

Experience building and shipping humanoid robotic systems or reference platforms. Background with deploying foundation models, embodied AI models, or reinforcement learning policies on physical robots. Experience evaluating learning-based robotic policies in simulation, including task success, robustness to disturbances, and generalization across tasks and environments. Experience building hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and automated benchmarking pipelines to measure closed-loop policy performance, validate real-time execution, and detect regressions across simulation and physical hardware. Strong background in perception, sensor integration, performance optimization, and system validation.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 152,000 USD - 241,500 USD for Level 3, and 184,000 USD - 287,500 USD for Level 4. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits. Applications for this job will be accepted at least until September 27, 2026. This posting is for an existing vacancy. NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes. NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.

NVIDIA pioneered accelerated computing. Today, our AI infrastructure powers global intelligence, transforming every industry. Learn more about NVIDIA.