Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Full Stack

Socket.dev; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Zoox is seeking a technical lead for Geofencer, Zoox's geospatial platform guiding how autonomous vehicles operate. You will own architecture and delivery across the full stack, from an interactive map-editing frontend to geospatial backend services and release pipelines.

You will mentor engineers, set technical direction, and ensure safety-critical systems meet high standards while collaborating with mapping, autonomy, and safety teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering, mathematics, or related field.
• 10+ years of industry experience building and operating production fullstack systems on large code bases.
• Strong proficiency in Python backend services and React with TypeScript/JavaScript, relational databases, async/task-queue architectures, and scripting/automation (Python, shell).
• Experience with Linux, cloud infrastructure (AWS or similar), containerized deployment, build systems, version control, testing methodologies, and CI/CD.
• Demonstrated technical leadership: driving multi-quarter projects, setting architectural direction, and mentoring engineers.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of Geofencer across the stack (React/TypeScript SPA with deck.gl, Mapbox; Python backends using FastAPI/SQLAlchemy/GeoAlchemy2).
• Own core geospatial workflows: versioned geofence editing, road-network annotation, drivable-area computation, Plan of Record releases to fleet.
• Integrate with the Zoox ecosystem and ML-assisted annotation workflows.
• Operate production infrastructure: Bazel builds, Docker/Kubernetes deployment, observability tools, and CI/CD with automation scripts for migrations and bulk tasks.
• Drive cross-functional alignment and mentor engineers across the team.

Skills

10+ years experience

Python backend

React + TS/JS

Relational databases

Async task queues

Automation scripting

Linux

AWS

Containerized deployment

CI/CD

Version control

Testing methodologies

Technical leadership

Geospatial systems

Robotics / automotive software

ML-assisted data pipelines

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering/math or related field

Tools

deck.gl

Mapbox GL

PostgreSQL

PostGIS

Celery

Bazel

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

The Software Systems Infrastructure team is responsible for aiding the Software Systems organization with all its internal tooling needs, development processes and ensuring that all safety-critical software meets a high safety bar for production vehicles. We are a fullstack, high-paced software engineering team.

In this role, you will be a technical lead for a tool called Geofencer - Zoox's geospatial platform for defining where and how our autonomous vehicles operate. Geofencer is the system of record for geofences, road-network annotations, pickup/dropoff zones, and released Plans of Record that flow directly to the fleet — making it one of the highest-leverage tools at the company: a change made in this application changes where robotaxis drive in the real world. You will own architecture and delivery across the full stack, from an interactive map-editing frontend to geospatial backend services and release pipelines, working closely with mapping, autonomy, operations, and safety teams. As a team lead, you'll take technical ownership for the whole system including delivery of features, set technical direction, drive quality and correctness in a safety-critical domain, and mentor engineers across the team.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the design and development of Geofencer across the stack: a React/TypeScript single-page application with rich interactive map editing (deck.gl, Mapbox), and Python backend services (FastAPI, SQLAlchemy/GeoAlchemy2, Celery) on PostgreSQL/PostGIS.
• Own core geospatial data workflows: versioned geofence editing, road-network annotation, drivable-area computation and connectivity validation, and the Plan of Record release process that publishes operational constraints to the fleet.
• Integrate with the broader Zoox ecosystem: the Zoox Road Network (ZRN) map graph, S3 artifact pipelines, downstream fleet and mission systems, and ML-assisted annotation workflows.
• Operate production infrastructure: Bazel builds, Docker/Kubernetes deployment, observability (Grafana, Sentry, OpenTelemetry), and CI/CD and whip up quick scripts and tools to automate tasks — data migrations, bulk annotation operations, metrics generation.
• Drive cross-functional alignment with operations, mapping, and autonomy stakeholders; translate ambiguous operational needs into scalable technical solutions; and mentor engineers on the team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering, mathematics, or related field
• 10+ years of industry experience building and operating production fullstack systems on large code bases
• Strong proficiency in fullstack development: Python backend services (FastAPI/Flask/Django or similar), React with TypeScript/JavaScript (ideally for data-heavy or visualization-intensive UIs), relational databases, async/task-queue architectures, and scripting/automation (Python, shell)
• Experience with Linux, cloud infrastructure (AWS or similar), containerized deployment, build systems, version control, testing methodologies, and CI/CD
• Demonstrated technical leadership: driving multi-quarter projects, setting architectural direction, and mentoring engineers

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with geospatial systems: PostGIS, GDAL/Shapely/Turf, map rendering libraries (deck.gl, Mapbox GL, Leaflet), or road-network/graph data models and building map-based web applications or GIS tooling with safety-critical systems
• Robotics, automotive, or aerospace software experience
• Familiarity with ML‑assisted data pipelines (e.g., VLM‑based annotation or labeling workflows)

About Zoox

Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.

Accommodations

If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to [e-mail] or your assigned recruiter.

A Final Note:

You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.