Senior Robotics Software Engineer

About Aurelius Systems

Aurelius Systems is the autonomous laser company. We combine AI, robotics and directed energy to defeat drones at scale. Our flagship system, Archimedes, detects, tracks and neutralizes Group 1-2 UAS autonomously: a robotic, low-SWaP, ground- and power-agnostic laser weapon deployable on land, sea and air platforms.

The full stack is built in-house — from perception, autonomy, controls, optics, power and embedded systems to fire control, C2 and AI software. We buy no software.

We raised a $40M Series A (Draper Associates, KAS Venture Partners, General Catalyst) and hold an MDA SHIELD contract. About 25 people, scaling fast. No middle management.

The Role

We're looking for a hands-on Senior Robotics Software Engineer who builds and debugs robotics software on physical hardware — and can prove it ran on that hardware repeatedly. Domain matters less than shipping.

The robotics stack is C++. Python is tooling only. The work runs from raw sensor data through tracking, control and autonomy on real hardware: cameras, IMUs, encoders, gimbal/turret, laser. Timing, threading, latency and reliability in the field matter more than elegant architecture.

What You'll Do

• Own features end to end in production C++ across sensor data, tracking, control or autonomy
• Profile and fix the paths you own: threading, process structure, latency, timing analysis
• Write the test with the feature; build and maintain CI/CD and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)
• Debug problems that only show up on real hardware in the field
• Participate in weekly field tests on our private 400-acre range

What We're Looking For

• 4+ years of hands-on robotics software engineering
• Production C++ that ran on a real physical system — not just a skills list entry
• Software shipped to repeated field/operator/fleet/customer use (not just a demo or thesis)
• Experience with sensor data, tracking, control, or autonomy
• Real-time systems fluency: threading, latency, timing analysis
• US Person required (export control)
• On-site in San Francisco 5 days/week; range days included

Nice to Have

• ROS/ROS2 experience
• Cameras, IMUs, encoders, gimbal/turret systems
• Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and CI/CD for robotics
• Defense, aerospace, or safety-critical background
• Active security clearance

Compensation

$185,000 – $235,000 base salary + equity

The Culture

Urgency, ownership, and shipping. We're not a PhD lab — proven science pushed past the usual comfort zone. Core hours 9–6, with sprints before demos and field tests. You'll be in the room with the people who built this system.