C++ Platform Integration Engineer

About the role

• This is a high-impact, technical leadership role for a C++ Engineer who thrives at the intersection of complex software architecture and physical reality. You will join our Platform and Vehicle Infrastructure (VI) teams to architect, build, and deploy the core systems that command our autonomous tuggers. As a subject matter expert, you will bridge multiple domains—Firmware, Autonomy, and Cloud—to ensure cohesive system design and seamless integration. We value engineers who take full ownership of their systems, drive architectural decisions, and provide technical guidance across the organization. If you are passionate about high-performance software engineering and seeing your architectural vision power real-world robotics, this is the environment for you.
• The physical vehicle is our primary development environment. A significant portion of this role involves hands-on integration in the vehicle bay—debugging on bare metal and working directly with hardware and sensors. This role is for the engineer who views physical interaction with the machine as the most rewarding part of the software development lifecycle.

What you'll do

Write Modern, Maintainable, C++ Software

• Develop and scale production C++ code within ROS 2 nodes and diagnostic tooling, focusing on modularity and high performance
• Write code that other people can maintain: clear interfaces, real tests, useful logging, and honest documentation
• Debug in earnest - gdb, sanitizers, profilers, core dumps, and log/bag analysis - including the failures that only appear on the vehicle
• Own the full lifecycle of a feature from architectural discussion to deployment on hardware, supported by structured mentorship

Test and integrate on real hardware

• Bring up new features on real vehicles: deploy, configure, run, observe, and report what actually happened
• Own the hands-on integration loop — connect to the vehicle, run the scenario, capture bags and logs, reproduce the problem, and narrow it to a root cause
• Work directly with the hardware: sensors, compute, CAN traffic, firmware versions, cabling, and the physical vehicle itself
• Build and improve the test tooling, scripts, and automation that make this loop faster and repeatable for everyone
• Help validate release candidates on hardware alongside VI and QA, and help chase down regressions that only show up in the real world

Work across teams

• Partner with the Firmware team when the problem is below your layer, the Autonomy team when it's above, and the Cloud team when it crosses the vehicle boundary — and help all three by producing clean, well-characterized reproductions instead of "it doesn't work"
• Support the Platform and VI teams on whatever the vehicle needs that week; this is a role where being useful matters more than owning a fiefdom
• Communicate clearly and often with teammates in the office and remote colleagues in other time zones

Use AI well

• Use AI coding tools (Claude Code and similar) as a core part of your daily workflow to move faster than you could alone
• Apply real human judgment on top of it: review every line, understand what you're merging, verify behavior on hardware, and reject output that's plausible but wrong
• Hold AI-assisted work to the same standard as hand-written work: maintainable, tested, and explainable by you in code review

Qualifications

• Strong modern C++ (C++17 or newer): design and write high quality, maintainable C++ software
• Willing and eager to work hands-on with real hardware — physical vehicles, raw sensor data, bare-metal debugging, connectors and cabling, CAN traffic
• Comfortable in Linux as a development environment: command line, CMake, toolchains, and debugging tools
• Effective and disciplined use of AI development tools, with rigorous human review — you can explain anything you merge
• Strong desire to learn and grow in both software craft and hands-on robotics; seeks feedback and acts on it
• Reliable teammate: takes direction well, finishes what you pick up, raises concerns early
• Strong communicator, comfortable working closely with people both in-office and remote
• Based in or willing to relocate to the Mountain View, CA area; this role is on-site with regular hands-on vehicle work

Bonus Qualifications

• Expert in Modern C++ software engineering. Able to architect efficient, well designed solutions. Implement solutions cleanly with modern, maintainable C++ following all the best practices.
• ROS or ROS 2
• Python for tooling, test automation, and data analysis
• Robotics, autonomous vehicle, drone, or other real-time embedded systems work
• CAN bus, firmware, microcontrollers, oscilloscopes, or electrical troubleshooting
• Sensors — LiDAR, cameras, radar, IMUs, encoders — and sensor data analysis
• Linux systems depth: systemd, containers, networking, kernel/driver behavior
• Performance profiling and optimization of real-time or high-bandwidth data pipelines
• CI/CD (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) and writing tests that run unattended
• AWS
• Simulation environments for testing autonomous systems

Benefits & Perks

• Health benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA and FSA (Health & Dependent Daycare), Employee Assistance Program, 1:1 Health Concierge)
• Life, Short-term and long-term disability insurance (Cyngn funds 100% of premiums)
• Company 401(k)
• Commuter Benefits
• Flexible vacation policy
• Remote or hybrid work opportunities
• Sabbatical leave opportunity after 5 years with the company
• Paid Parental Leave
• Daily lunches for in-office employees and fully-stocked kitchen with snacks and beverages
• Monthly meal and tech allowances for remote employees

$170,000 - $180,000 a year

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.