Staff Robotics Software Engineer

SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Onsite role

Job summary

SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™ is seeking a Staff Robotics Software Engineer to lead the autonomy stack for uncrewed systems. This onsite role focuses on perception, state estimation, planning, and control with real hardware, not just simulations.

You will help guide architecture decisions, collaborate with hardware and ML engineers, and push for robust, field-ready robotics software. US citizenship is required for security clearance eligibility.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of robotics or autonomy software experience on hardware
• Strong proficiency in modern C++ (Python a plus) and Linux
• Deep expertise in perception, localization/SLAM, motion planning, or controls
• Proven track record of technical leadership and architecture ownership
• US citizenship required for security clearance eligibility

Responsibilities

• Design and own core autonomy software for uncrewed systems (perception, state estimation, planning, control)
• Take systems from prototype to fielded hardware with real-platform testing
• Set technical direction and raise code quality, tests, and deployment standards
• Collaborate with hardware, firmware, and ML teams and engage with end users as needed

Skills

Robotics software

C++

Linux

ROS/ROS 2

System architecture

Leadership

Tools

ROS2 middleware

Job description

Staff Robotics Software Engineer | Autonomy | Defense

Onsite | $200K - $300K base + equity

You'll own the autonomy software stack for uncrewed systems that have to work in the real world, not just in simulation. GPS-denied, comms-degraded, no second chances.

We're a venture-backed defense technology company with systems already in the field. The engineering team is small and senior, and this hire will shape the architecture that the next 50 engineers build on.

What you'll work on

• Designing and owning core autonomy software: perception, state estimation, planning and control
• Taking systems from prototype to fielded hardware, including testing on real platforms
• Setting technical direction and raising the bar for how the team writes, tests and ships robotics software
• Working directly with hardware, firmware and ML engineers, and occasionally with end users

What we're looking for

• 8+ years building robotics or autonomy software, with systems that have run on real hardware
• Strong modern C++ (Python a plus), Linux, and ROS/ROS 2 or equivalent middleware
• Deep expertise in at least one of: perception, localization/SLAM, motion planning, or controls
• A track record of technical leadership: you've owned architecture decisions and made other engineers better
• US citizenship (required for security clearance eligibility)

Nice to have

• Active or previous security clearance
• Experience with aerial, maritime or ground uncrewed systems
• Sim-to-real, HIL testing or safety-critical software experience

Why this role

• Real ownership: your decisions will ship, not sit in a slide deck
• Meaningful equity at an early stage
• Hardware you can actually touch and test