Principal, Robotics Software Engineer

10+ years of robotics software engineering with real shipped systems behind you

Senior IC track record at robotics companies that actually shipped to customers or operators

Deep ROS2 experience and the judgment to know when not to use it

Track record building and operating CI/CD for robotics or hardware-in-the-loop

Experience taking software through formal release, packaging, and deployment to end users

Where you probably come from: Senior IC at robotics companies that shipped, defense robotics groups, autonomy at automotive, or aerospace robotics programs that put software in front of operators.

We want to talk if: You've taken software from "works on the dev's machine" to "works in the field for a customer." You know the difference between a prototype that demos and a release that survives.

Not a fit if: You're a researcher who hasn't shipped, you're a people-manager without recent IC chops, or your robotics experience is benchmark-only.

Real-time systems experience

Sensor fusion or perception background

Defense or safety-critical software release experience

Built CI/CD for robotics or hardware-in-the-loop systems before

BS, MS, or PhD in CS, Robotics, EE, or equivalent. Track record matters more than degree.

Extreme bias for action. You ship working code on real hardware, not slideware

You debug from first principles, not intuition alone

Comfortable with ambiguity and fast iteration in a startup environment

Clear communicator across software, hardware, and operator-facing surfaces

Self directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told

Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.

Career velocity is real. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact.

Work on a problem that actually matters. Small cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer — infinite magazine, near zero cost per shot, scalable to every base, border, facility, and truck.

Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built.

Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up — nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show.

This role requires access to export-controlled information or items that require U.S. Person status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a U.S. Person: (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).