Senior Software Engineer, Autonomous Systems

ABOUT THE ROLE Join a customer-facing product engineering team building command-and-control and autonomy software for robotic systems. You will develop cloud and edge services that connect sensors, autonomous platforms, and AI-driven decision support for complex operational missions. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Design, build, and optimize reliable software for mission-critical autonomous systems. - Develop real-time data processing for heterogeneous sensors, including state estimation and threat detection. - Build LLM- and AI-enabled systems that assess threats and support rapid operational decisions. - Integrate sensors, effectors, and autonomous platforms, including individual and coordinated systems. - Engineer scalable, fault-tolerant services for high-stakes environments. - Work with robotics, hardware, sensing, and systems engineering specialists to deliver integrated solutions. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Four to ten years of backend or service-layer software engineering experience, with recent hands-on individual contributor work. - Experience owning backend services such as APIs, microservices, or middleware, and building real-time messaging between external systems. - Professional proficiency in Rust, Python, C++, or Java, and a degree in computer science or a related technical field. - Practical experience in autonomy, such as robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, or factory automation. Experience should extend beyond algorithms, simulation, or ML research alone. - Experience shipping software in a rapid prototype-to-field environment; familiarity with LLM integrations, AI agents, or tool chains is helpful. - Authorization to work in the United States without visa sponsorship and eligibility for security clearance. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Base salary: $145,000 to $275,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. LOCATION Hybrid in Palo Alto, California.