Principal Robotics Software Engineer

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Principal Robotics Software Engineer based in the United States. This is a senior technical leadership opportunity focused on advancing software for intelligent, autonomous machines. You will define architecture and lead the development of complex robotics systems deployed on real-world platforms. The role spans vehicle control, safety behavior, perception, motion planning, localization, and other critical autonomy capabilities. You’ll collaborate closely with robotics, machine learning, hardware, systems engineering, and product teams across a multidisciplinary environment. As a principal-level engineer, you’ll shape multi-quarter technical initiatives while balancing architectural quality with practical delivery. You’ll also mentor engineers, establish engineering standards, and help turn emerging robotics technologies into reliable production systems. The position offers the opportunity to make a tangible impact on safer, more sustainable, and increasingly autonomous machinery. Provide technical leadership and architectural direction across complex, multi-quarter robotics initiatives, establishing scalable design patterns and engineering best practices. Architect, design, develop, and maintain high-performance, fault-tolerant software systems for autonomous platforms, including capabilities such as motion planning, controls, state estimation, spatial awareness, and fleet management. Collaborate across engineering groups to improve vehicle safety behavior, vehicle control, and access to valuable machine and sensor data that enables greater autonomy and intelligence. Partner with Robotics, Perception, Machine Learning, Hardware, Systems Engineering, and Product teams to define requirements, hardware-software interfaces, and system-level validation strategies. Develop robust production software using modern engineering practices, including rigorous coding standards, automated testing, continuous integration, and real-world deployment processes. Work across system abstraction levels, from defining high-level architecture and technical strategy to diagnosing complex hardware-software integration issues. Guide technical design reviews, code quality initiatives, system troubleshooting, and engineering practices across teams. Mentor and develop engineers at different career levels, helping raise technical capability through coaching, design feedback, and knowledge sharing. Evaluate emerging developments in robotics, AI/ML, dynamic controls, and real-time computing and translate relevant advances into practical technical direction. Balance long-term architectural improvements with near-term delivery requirements, making sound technical tradeoffs in a fast-moving environment. Requirements 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including at least 4+ years operating at Principal- or Staff-level within robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, heavy machinery automation, or a closely related field. Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or another relevant technical discipline. Expert-level proficiency in modern C++ and Python within Linux-based development environments. Deep hands-on experience with robotics frameworks such as ROS, ROS 2, or CyberRT, along with expertise in one or more core robotics domains including motion planning, kinematics, trajectory generation, localization, perception, or control theory. Strong experience developing multi-threaded C++ applications, basic inter-process communication, and software that interfaces directly with physical hardware and sensors such as LiDAR, cameras, IMUs, and GPS. Demonstrated ability to design complex system architectures while also debugging challenging hardware-software integration and edge-case issues. Strong engineering judgment and the ability to balance scalabl