Staff Software Engineer, Perception Systems (Edge/Cloud)

haydenai; New York, San Francisco (NY, CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Hayden AI is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead perception systems on the edge and cloud. You will define long‑term architecture, coordinate cross‑functional teams, and drive production‑level perception and robotics solutions for real‑world deployments.

The role demands deep CV/robotics expertise, hands‑on coding in C++, and strong technical leadership to balance innovation with reliability and scale across the product platform.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in building and deploying perception systems; experience in automotive or robotics domains is a plus.
• Deep expertise in one or more of: robotics, state estimation, computer vision, or applied machine learning.
• Extensive experience leading large, complex, production‑grade systems end‑to‑end.
• Expert‑level proficiency in modern C++, including experience with real‑time and/or embedded systems.
• Proven track record of technical leadership and architectural ownership across multiple projects or teams.
• Experience scaling systems from prototype to production in ambiguous, fast‑moving environments.
• Strong ability to influence without authority and drive alignment across teams.
• Demonstrated mentorship and ability to raise the bar for engineering quality across an organization.

Responsibilities

• Spearhead the architectural design, implementation, and long‑term ownership of next‑generation perception systems, ensuring seamless transition from research prototypes to robust, scalable production solutions.
• Champion best practices in software development, delivering high‑performance, meticulously tested, and maintainable C++ code optimized for heterogeneous edge and robotics computing platforms.
• Architect and optimize high‑throughput, real‑time perception pipelines, setting the technical direction for advanced techniques in object detection, tracking, and sophisticated sensor fusion
• Drive the strategic selection, adaptation, and integration of state‑of‑the‑art ML and CV models, including development of novel, proprietary models for Hayden‑specific problems.
• Provide technical leadership in ambiguous domains, defining the technical roadmap and balancing rapid iteration for R&D with productization and scale.
• Act as a key technical liaison, collaborating with Product leadership and setting standards across cross‑functional Engineering organizations.
• Define and contribute to foundational shared infrastructure, tooling, and architectural patterns, scaling pilot initiatives into core product capabilities.

Skills

C++ expert

Real-time/embedded systems

Computer vision

Robotics

ML/CV model integration

Architectural leadership

Education

MS or PhD in CS/EE/Robotics

Tools

ROS

Linux

Job description

Hayden AI is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead perception systems on the edge and cloud. You will define long‑term architecture, coordinate cross‑functional teams, and drive production‑level perception and robotics solutions for real‑world deployments.

The role demands deep CV/robotics expertise, hands‑on coding in C++, and strong technical leadership to balance innovation with reliability and scale across the product platform.