C++ Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

Forterra•East Palo Alto, CA

4h•Onsite

About The Position

Fabric is Forterra’s distributed systems platform for registering, discovering, and replicating mission critical data across dynamic mesh network topologies. Fabric enables interoperability between autonomous vehicles, operators, services, and partner systems across unreliable, bandwidth-constrained networks. It is foundational infrastructure used by multiple internal teams and external integrators, and it directly impacts system scalability, reliability, and operational success for Forterra. We are seeking a Senior/Staff Software Engineer to help design and build Fabric, Forterra’s core distributed systems platform. This role is ideal for a senior engineer who thrives in ambiguous problem spaces, enjoys building foundational infrastructure, and has deep experience with modern C++ and distributed systems. As a Staff Engineer, you will operate at a system-wide level: shaping architecture, setting technical direction, and delivering high-impact features. You will work closely with platform, autonomy, networking, and application teams to ensure Fabric scales across products, teams, and deployment environments. This is a hands-on technical role with significant architectural ownership and cross-team influence.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
8+ years of professional software engineering experience
Expert-level proficiency in modern C++ (C++17 or later)
Experience with publish/subscribe or message-oriented middlewares (e.g., gRPC, DDS, ZeroMQ, MQTT, custom transports)
Strong testing fundamentals and experience developing automated tests in C++ using GoogleTest, Boost.Test, or similar frameworks (unit, integration, regression).
Familiar with best practices such as test case design, edge-case coverage, mocking/stubbing, and maintaining reliable CI-friendly test suites.
Solid understanding of distributed systems fundamentals, including:
Replication and consistency models
Leader election and coordination
Failure detection and recovery
Concurrency and synchronization
Experience building or operating production distributed systems
Deep familiarity with Linux-based development and deployment environments
Proven ability to lead technical projects from concept through production
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex systems clearly

Nice To Haves

Networking expertise, including unicast/multicast, routing, and constrained or unreliable links
Experience building systems for edge environments, robotics, or embedded platforms
Familiarity with real-time or near-real-time systems
Familiarity with consensus protocols (e.g., Raft, Paxos, or variants)
Experience with CMake, Conan, Bazel, or similar build systems
Exposure to observability tools (logging, metrics, tracing) in distributed systems
Background in defense, automotive, robotics, or safety-critical software

Responsibilities

Lead the design and implementation of core Fabric services and libraries in modern C++
Architect distributed systems that operate reliably over low-bandwidth, high-latency, and unreliable networks
Design APIs and abstractions that enable teams to register, serialize, replicate, and query arbitrary data types
Define and evolve patterns for discovery, addressing, routing, and replication across fixed and dynamic topologies
Build and maintain high-performance messaging, transport, and synchronization layers
Drive decisions around consistency models, reliability guarantees, and failure handling
Collaborate with partner teams (autonomy, TerraLink, ATAK, web, and external integrators) to ensure Fabric meets real-world requirements
Establish best practices for correctness, performance, observability, and maintainability
Contribute to long-term technical strategy, roadmap planning, and architectural reviews
Document designs clearly for both engineering and integration audiences

Benefits

Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

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