Software Engineer - Control Center Sunnyvale Sunnyvale

Applied Intuition; Sunnyvale, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401k with employer match

Learning stipend

Wellness stipend

Paid time off

Job summary

Applied Intuition in Sunnyvale, CA, is seeking a Software Engineer for the Control Center team to build the central platform connecting autonomous fleets with human operators across industries.

You'll own core backend domains, design low-latency, scalable services, and collaborate with autonomy, perception, and vehicle-platform teams to deliver reliable APIs and state synchronization in cloud and on-prem environments.

Qualifications

• 4+ years building and operating production distributed systems (Go, C++ or Python).
• Experience with high-throughput streaming architectures or time-series data.
• Strong API design and data modeling with a focus on reliability and security.

Responsibilities

• Architect and maintain critical Control Center subsystems from telemetry ingestion to mission orchestration.
• Design cloud and edge services where performance directly affects safety.
• Collaborate with autonomy, perception, and vehicle-platform teams to define robust APIs and data protocols.
• Build data pipelines and APIs to transform vehicle metrics into actionable intelligence.
• Deploy, observe, and harden SaaS services across cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped environments.
• Debug live fleet operations with field engineers and deployment leads to improve platform reliability.

Skills

Backend systems

Real-time data

System design

Production ownership

Product ownership

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Kafka

gRPC

Time-series DBs

Kubernetes

Job description

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

About the role

As a Software Engineer on the Control Center team, you will build the central operational platform that connects autonomous vehicle fleets to human operators across a wide range of industries including mining, commercial trucking, defense, industrial automation, and consumer AVs.

Control Center acts as the central nervous system for autonomous operations, handling everything from continuous telemetry ingestion and real-time digital twins to mission orchestration, safety-critical geofencing, and site-wide path planning.

In this role, you will own core platform domains end-to-end, building low-latency, ultra-reliable backend systems that scale across diverse vehicle types and operational environments-from public cloud deployments to air-gapped, on-premise sites.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Architect, implement, scale, and maintain critical control center subsystems - from high-throughput telemetry ingestion to live asset state tracking and mission orchestration
• Design cloud and edge services where performance and correctness directly impact physical safety, including geofence enforcement, proximity alerts, and remote mission execution
• Collaborate directly with autonomy, perception, and vehicle-platform teams to establish robust APIs, data protocols, and state synchronization frameworks
• Build resilient data pipelines and APIs that transform high-volume vehicle metrics, logs, and state updates into actionable, queryable intelligence for customers
• Deploy, observe, and harden SaaS services operating across public cloud, private infrastructure, and air-gapped on-premise environments
• Partner with field engineers and deployment leads to debug live fleet operations, resolve real-world edge cases, and continuously close the feedback loop on platform reliability
  

We're looking for someone who has:

• Proven backend/systems expertise: 4+ years of experience designing, building, and operating production distributed systems using Go, C++ or Python.
• Real-time data experience: Hands-on experience with high-throughput streaming architectures, event-driven systems, or time-series data management (e.g., Kafka, gRPC, time-series DBs).
• Strong system design & API instincts: Mastery of data modeling, API design, and distributed consensus, with a sharp focus on reliability, fault tolerance, and security.
• Production ownership mindset: Comfort managing the full software lifecycle—including CI/CD, telemetry/observability, on-call rotations, and root-cause analysis for edge-case failure modes.
• Product ownership in ambiguous spaces: Ability to take vague requirements, break down complex domain problems, and execute pragmatic trade-offs in a fast-paced environment.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Excellent communication skills with a track record of bridging technical gaps between cloud software and hardware platforms

Nice to have:

• Familiarity with robotics protocols and middleware (CAN, MQTT, DDS, SOME/IP).
• Experience deploying on Kubernetes across cloud-hosted and air-gapped/on-prem environments.
• Background in safety-critical, functional safety, or heavily regulated domains (e.g. mining, automotive, industrial automation).

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.