Staff Robotics Software Engineer

Staff Robotics Software Engineer | Autonomy | Defense

Onsite | $200K - $300K base + equity

You'll own the autonomy software stack for uncrewed systems that have to work in the real world, not just in simulation. GPS-denied, comms-degraded, no second chances.

We're a venture-backed defense technology company with systems already in the field. The engineering team is small and senior, and this hire will shape the architecture that the next 50 engineers build on.

What you'll work on

• Designing and owning core autonomy software: perception, state estimation, planning and control
• Taking systems from prototype to fielded hardware, including testing on real platforms
• Setting technical direction and raising the bar for how the team writes, tests and ships robotics software
• Working directly with hardware, firmware and ML engineers, and occasionally with end users

What we're looking for

• 8+ years building robotics or autonomy software, with systems that have run on real hardware
• Strong modern C++ (Python a plus), Linux, and ROS/ROS 2 or equivalent middleware
• Deep expertise in at least one of: perception, localization/SLAM, motion planning, or controls
• A track record of technical leadership: you've owned architecture decisions and made other engineers better
• US citizenship (required for security clearance eligibility)

Nice to have

• Active or previous security clearance
• Experience with aerial, maritime or ground uncrewed systems
• Sim-to-real, HIL testing or safety-critical software experience

Why this role

• Real ownership: your decisions will ship, not sit in a slide deck
• Meaningful equity at an early stage
• Hardware you can actually touch and test

This role is being run exclusively by SR2, specialists in embedded and autonomy engineering recruitment. Conversations are confidential. Apply here or message Angus directly for a quick, no-pressure chat about the role and the company.

message or email me directly [email protected]