Systems Engineer

Deft Robotics; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Deft Robotics is seeking a Systems Engineer to advance the core software stack for robotic data collection. You will diagnose bottlenecks, implement and maintain drivers for sensors and in-house hardware, and contribute to safe robot operation with monitoring and guardrails.

You will build testing and observability infrastructures, and design fleet management capabilities for health, updates, and rollouts across distributed robotic systems.

Qualifications

• Degree in CS, EE, robotics, or equivalent experience.
• Proficient in C/C++ and familiar with Python.
• Experience with Linux-based software, multi-threading, memory management and perf optimization.
• Experience with hardware interfaces and sensor/embedded networking hardware.
• Strong systems fundamentals in OS, networking and concurrency.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain core software infrastructure for robot data collection.
• Improve reliability and performance across the robotics software stack.
• Develop libraries and drivers for new sensors and hardware modules.
• Support safe robot operation with monitoring and guardrails.
• Develop testing infrastructure: unit/integration/regression tests.
• Build observability: telemetry, logging, diagnostics.
• Design fleet management: health monitoring, updates, rollouts, rollback.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Linux development

Performance optimization

Concurrency

Hardware interfaces

Systems fundamentals

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/EE/Robotics or equivalent

Tools

Yocto

Embedded Linux build systems

Kernel/driver development

Job description

Systems Engineer

What You'll Do

• Develop and maintain core software infrastructure supporting the robot data collection stack.
• Improve reliability and performance across the robotics software stack by diagnosing system bottlenecks and failure modes.
• Implement and maintain software libraries and device drivers for new sensor suites and in-house hardware modules.
• Contribute to systems that support safe robot operation, including monitoring, detection, and guardrails to prevent unsafe interactions.
• Develop testing infrastructure for robotics software, including unit, integration, and regression testing frameworks.
• Build the observability layer for robotic systems, including telemetry, logging, and diagnostics.
• Design and implement fleet management infrastructure, including robot health monitoring, software updates, staged rollouts, and rollback mechanisms.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong programming experience in C/C++ and familiarity with Python.
• Experience developing software for Linux-based systems, including multi-threaded programming, memory management, and performance optimization.
• Experience diagnosing and resolving reliability or performance issues in complex software systems.
• Experience working with hardware–software interfaces, such as sensors, embedded devices, or networking hardware.
• Strong understanding of systems fundamentals, including operating systems, networking, and concurrent programming.
• Ability to design and implement reliable systems that interact with hardware and real-world environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing production software for robotics systems or other hardware-interfacing platforms.
• Experience working with embedded or edge computing environments.
• Experience with Linux systems internals, including kernel development, driver development, or low-level performance profiling.
• Experience designing or operating distributed systems or cloud infrastructure.
• Experience building systems for monitoring, observability, or remote diagnostics in deployed environments.
• Experience working with embedded Linux build systems such as Yocto or similar tools.
• Evidence of building or contributing to complex systems projects, such as open-source infrastructure, research systems, or publications at top systems venues.

Hiring Process

• Phone screen + 3 virtual technical interviews + onsite

Expected Compensation

• $100,000 - $200,000 annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits
• The pay offered for this position may vary based on several individual factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional components/benefits depending on the specific role. This information will be shared if an employment offer is extended.

US Work Authorization

Are you a US Citizen, Green Card Holder or Valid Visa Holder (H1-B, O-1, TN, E-3, OPT, etc)?