Clera
Principal Robotics Software Engineer
- Compensation
- $235K–$305K / yr
- From job posting
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, US
- Arrangement
- On-site
- Employment type
- Full-time
- Level
- Principal
- Posted
- 29 October 2026 (3 days ago)
Checked 2 days agoApplications go to the employer, never to RoleSprint
About this role
ABOUT THE ROLE
Join the robotics team at a defense technology company developing autonomous systems to detect and counter unmanned aerial threats. This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role focused on production robotics software running on real hardware.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Write and own critical production C++ across the robotics stack.
- Define and maintain system-wide timing and safety contracts from perception through control.
- Take software from prototype to dependable field releases, including packaging, deployment, CI/CD, quality assurance, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
- Mentor and grow the robotics team while continuing to contribute code directly.
- Debug hardware and field issues, including during regular range tests.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- 10 or more years of hands-on robotics software engineering experience and a record of shipping systems.
- Recent, hands-on production C++ experience on physical robotic systems.
- Experience taking robotics software from prototype to repeatable use in field, operator, fleet, or customer settings.
- System-level experience with timing, threading, latency, and reliability, as well as release processes, deployment, CI/CD, quality assurance, or hardware-in-the-loop testing.
- Broad robotics experience across sensors, perception, tracking, control, middleware, and deployment; familiarity with sensor timestamps, time synchronization, or coordinate transforms is valuable.
- Experience mentoring or growing a team while remaining an individual contributor.
- ROS or ROS2 and experience with cameras, IMUs, encoders, or gimbal systems are useful. Defense, aerospace, safety-critical software, systems languages beyond C++, sensor fusion, or an active security clearance are also valuable.
- Must meet applicable U.S. person requirements for export-controlled work.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Base salary: $235,000 to $305,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.
LOCATION
On-site five days per week in San Francisco, California, United States, with range days included.
Work location
- San Francisco, CA, US
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About this listing
Published on Ashby under the board identifier Clera, which is the name the employer’s own job board carries. RoleSprint has not verified the company’s registered or trading name, so it is shown exactly as published rather than tidied up.
RoleSprint is not the employer and not a recruiter. Applications are made on the employer’s own site and never reach us; what RoleSprint does is help you decide whether a role is worth your time and prepare for it if it is.
Published 29 October 2026, last checked 2 days ago. A posting stops being advertised here 90 days after the employer published it, and one the employer takes down is marked closed rather than quietly removed.