Software Engineer
About this role
Our Mission: To Be Bold and Impactful
At Emesent, we build autonomous robotics, LiDAR mapping, and spatial data technologies that are transforming the way industries understand and interact with the physical world. Founded in 2018 with deep roots in Australia's globally recognised CSIRO, Emesent has become a global leader in drone autonomy and mobile mapping solutions.
With a rapidly growing international customer base and expanding product portfolio across hardware, desktop software, and cloud platforms, we are entering an exciting new phase of growth and we're looking for engineers who want to help shape what comes next.
\nThe OpportunityCortex is the software and control architecture at the heart of every Emesent scanner — it's what takes you from handheld mapping all the way to autonomously controlling robotic systems connected to it. As a Software Engineer on the Capture team, you'll work on the real-time systems that turn sensor data into autonomous action.
You'll join Capture working hands-on across the stack from low-level C++ modules to the Python tooling that supports testing, tuning, and deployment. This is an individual contributor role reporting to the Capture Engineering Manager, with plenty of room to grow technical depth and ownership over time.
Cortex Software Stack Development
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Design, implement, and maintain core Cortex modules covering hardware interface, navigation, mapping, and perception
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Contribute to localisation and sensor fusion pipelines running on real robotic hardware
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Improve the performance of our perception pipeline, path planning and navigation for GPS and GPS-denied environments
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Maintain and expand our simulation pipeline to support development, testing, and tuning of autonomy behaviours
Systems & Software Engineering
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Write production-quality C++ for performance-critical, real-time robotics components
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Build supporting tools, test harnesses, and analysis scripts in Python
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Develop and extend our ROS-based architecture considering compute constraints of the hardware platform
Testing, Deployment & Field Support
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Validate autonomy behaviours in simulation and on physical hardware, including field trials
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Debug and resolve issues surfaced from real-world deployments, working closely with hardware and field teams
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Contribute to CI, automated testing, and regression pipelines to keep the stack reliable as it grows
Collaboration
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Work closely with senior engineers, hardware, and product teams to translate customer and field requirements into robust software
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Participate in design reviews, code reviews, and technical planning
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Document design decisions and share knowledge across the team
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Assist with support escalations raised by our clients, using the learned feedback to make our software better and more intuitive to use
You're a software engineer who enjoys working close to the hardware and seeing your code make a physical system work. You're comfortable operating with a reasonable degree of autonomy, but you know when to ask for help and when to loop in a senior team member.
You are effective because you can:
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Write clean, efficient, well-tested C++ for real-time or resource-constrained systems
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Use Python confidently for tooling, prototyping, and analysis
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Reason about the practical challenges of robotic systems — noisy sensors, timing, hardware failure modes, and the gap between simulation and the real world
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Communicate clearly with both engineers and non-technical stakeholders about progress and trade-offs
Experience & Background
Our ideal profile is someone with:
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3+ years of professional software engineering experience, ideally with some exposure to robotics or embedded systems
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Strong proficiency in C++ (C++14/17 or later) and Python 3
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Hands-on experience with ROS or ROS2 in a development or production capacity
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Comfort working with Linux-based development environments
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A degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Nice to have:
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Experience with at least one of: SLAM, sensor fusion, path planning, computer vision, or control systems
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Experience with LiDAR, depth cameras, IMUs, or other robotic perception sensors
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Exposure to simulation tools (Gazebo, Isaac Sim, or similar)
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Experience deploying software to embedded or edge compute platforms
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Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and containerised development (Docker)d
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Experience with AWS deployment and integration with GitHub
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Experience in agentic engineering, from design to coding
However, we encourage people with some, but not all, of this background to also apply.
Cortex is the software that makes every Emesent scanner work, from handheld mapping to full robotic autonomy — it's what our customers are actually buying when they choose us for GPS-denied mapping and inspection. As an engineer on Capture, your code will ship on real hardware, in real mines and tunnels, and directly shape how reliably our scanners and drones operate in the field.
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9-day fortnight – every second Friday off
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Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP) – share in Emesent's success
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Work alongside a passionate and collaborative team building world-leading technology
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Genuine learning and development opportunities including LinkedIn Learning access
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Employee Assistance Program
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One additional day of leave each year for your work anniversary
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Novated lease options
Why Emesent?
At Emesent, you'll work on technology that is genuinely shaping the future of how industries capture and understand the physical world. We offer a dynamic, collaborative environment, competitive compensation, and real opportunities for professional growth. Join us in pushing the boundaries of robotics and spatial intelligence.
Company at a glance
Emesent is a pioneer in Physical AI – the convergence of artificial intelligence, autonomous robotics, and advanced spatial computing – enabling machines to understand, navigate, and map complex real-world environments without human intervention.
Founded in 2018, with deep connections to Australia's globally recognized CSIRO, Emesent provides the means to access spatial intelligence outside of GPS range and beyond line of site, and is designed to operate within the world’s most challenging environments. Building on its initial success within Australia, Emesent now supports clients across 40 countries through direct engagements and a global network of over 50 partners.
Emesent’s flagship product, Hovermap, is a mobile scanning unit that combines advanced collision avoidance and autonomous flight technologies to map hazardous and GPS-denied environments. Its award-winning technology utilizes innovative hardware, advanced algorithms, and machine learning to automate collection and analysis of the physical world. Equally capable above ground or underground, indoors or out, Hovermap is a complete mobile LiDAR mapping solution. Dubbed the ‘swiss army knife’ of survey mapping, Hovermap is uniquely versatile: it can be deployed via drone, quadruped robot, vehicle, backpack and a range of other accessories to map challenging, inaccessible areas.
Hovermap is currently used within mining, engineering and construction, public safety and defense, and offers applications across a growing range of use cases.
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