As a Senior Software Engineer on the Platform team, you will shape the foundational software layer for a fleet of autonomous ground vehicles operating in demanding aviation environments. Your focus will be on building and maintaining robust, high-performance systems that power real-time decision-making across complex hardware and sensor configurations.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain custom Linux distributions based on Ubuntu, optimized for deterministic, safety-critical workloads.
- Tune and manage ROS 2 middleware with DDS implementations like Cyclone DDS and Fast DDS to ensure reliable, low-latency communication across distributed components.
- Design and support kernel modules and user-space drivers for sensors including LiDAR, cameras, radar, GNSS/INS, and CAN bus interfaces.
- Enhance and stabilize network architectures to support high-bandwidth, time-sensitive data flows.
- Implement comprehensive observability tools to monitor system health, resource usage, and performance across lab and field operations.
- Work closely with autonomy and controls teams to analyze and resolve system-level bottlenecks in CPU and GPU utilization.
- Strengthen platform security through secure boot, regular patching, and reliable over-the-air update mechanisms.
- Own and automate CI/CD pipelines for OS images and driver packages to ensure consistent, scalable deployments.
- Provide on-call support during field trials and customer pilots to troubleshoot and resolve platform issues.
- Document system architecture, integration patterns, and best practices for internal and external developers.
Required Qualifications
- At least three years of experience with Linux-based embedded or robotics systems.
- Strong programming skills in C++ and Python.
- Proven experience using ROS 1 or ROS 2 in production or research environments.
- Familiarity with DDS internals and quality-of-service configuration for predictable data delivery.
- Experience tuning real-time systems using tools such as perf, eBPF, and tracing frameworks.
- Working knowledge of Git, Docker, and OCI container technologies.
Preferred Experience
- Background in autonomous vehicles, drones, or safety-critical robotics.
- Experience configuring ptp4l for precise time synchronization.
- Understanding of hardware communication protocols including USB, Ethernet, CAN, PCIe, SPI, and I2C.
- Knowledge of v4l2 and gstreamer for video pipeline integration.
- Deep familiarity with Ubuntu system internals: package management, systemd, networking, and kernel customization.
- Experience with Nvidia Orin or Jetson platforms.
- Hands-on work with Yocto for custom OS builds.
- Kernel-level experience applying PREEMPT_RT or similar real-time patches.
- Exposure to GPU acceleration using CUDA or Vulkan, and scheduling across heterogeneous compute units.
- Experience integrating functional safety standards such as MISRA or ISO 26262 workflows.
- Development or debugging of kernel modules and low-level drivers.
- Adaptability in a fast-moving startup environment with regular support for field deployments at industrial sites like airports.
