Principal Robotics Software Engineer

San Franciscofull timeOn Site

senior

$235k–$305k

H1B: no

Clera Principal Robotics Software Engineer responsible for writing and owning production C++ software across the robotics stack. Manages timing, threading, latency, and safety contracts while mentoring the robotics team and supporting hardware testing.

Responsibilities

Join the robotics team at a defense technology company developing autonomous systems to detect and counter drone threats. This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role focused on production C++ running on physical robotic hardware.
Write and own critical production C++ across the robotics software stack.
Manage timing, threading, latency, and safety contracts across perception, tracking, control, and autonomy.
Move software from prototype to reliable field use through release processes, packaging, deployment, CI/CD, quality assurance, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
Mentor and support the growth of the robotics team while continuing to code hands-on.
Investigate and resolve issues that emerge on real hardware, including during field testing.

Qualification

Broad experience across sensorsExperience with robotics CI/CDROS or ROS 2Must be a UCamerasIMUsEncodersGimbal systemsDefense

Required

10 or more years of hands-on robotics software engineering experience and a record of shipping robotic systems.
Recent experience writing production C++ for physical systems, including personally implementing tracking, calibration, and sensor fusion.
Experience taking robotics software from prototype to repeatable release for field, operator, fleet, or customer use.
Broad experience across sensors, perception, tracking, control, middleware, and deployment, including ownership of timing and latency architecture across a system.
Experience with robotics CI/CD, quality assurance, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and formal release and deployment processes.
Experience mentoring or growing a team while remaining a hands-on individual contributor.
ROS or ROS 2, cameras, IMUs, encoders, gimbal systems, and defense, aerospace, or safety-critical software experience are useful.
Must be a U.S. person due to export control requirements.