Forward Deployed Software Engineer Intern

Sortera Technologies, Inc.•Austin, TX

19d•Onsite

About The Position

This is a forward-deployed engineering role. You will spend two months in Austin learning our production software. Then you will move to our production facility in Markle, Indiana, where you will be the software team's engineer on the ground for four months. You will own three areas: ROS 2 migration, deployments and incident support, and daily calibration and drift detection. This role suits someone who wants real responsibility early, likes working next to hardware, and collaborates when a production line needs them.

Requirements

Currently pursuing, or recently finished, a BS or MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, or a related field.
Working knowledge of ROS 2: nodes, topics, services, lifecycle nodes, and launch systems.
Strong programming skills in C++ and/or Python.
Comfortable with Linux, the command line, and Git.
A structured, persistent approach to debugging problems that span software, hardware, and data.
Clear written and verbal communication; you will often be the remote team's eyes and ears on-site.
Able to work fully on-site in Austin, TX for 2 months, then in Markle, IN for 4 months.
Willing to work in an industrial plant environment and follow safety procedures and PPE requirements.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to computer vision, camera systems, sensors, or embedded devices.
Experience deploying or supporting software in production (CI/CD pipelines, on-call, or field support).
Data analysis skills (pandas, NumPy, plotting or dashboards) for tracking machine performance over time.
Prior work in robotics, automation, or manufacturing through internships, research, competition teams, or personal projects.

Responsibilities

Learn our production software stack: machine control, the vision and sensor pipeline, classification models, and configuration tools.
Learn our ROS 2 architecture and migration approach, and scope the component you will own.
Practice deployments, calibration, and troubleshooting on our Austin test machine before working in production.
Shadow the software team on releases and incident response, and learn the deployment pipeline and release process.
Build, test, and deploy your component as ROS 2 nodes, working with the Austin team.
Validate it against current production behavior on live machines and document the results.
Present the outcome to the software team and hand off code and documentation for long-term ownership.
Carry out and verify on-site software deployments: pre-checks, rollout, post-deployment validation, and rollback when needed.
Act as first-line support for production software issues: triage, collect logs and data, reproduce, then fix or escalate clearly to the remote team.
Write incident summaries and keep runbooks and troubleshooting guides current.
Work with process engineers to run and verify machine calibrations every day.
Track calibration and sort-performance data over time, and flag drift early.
Build or improve tools that make drift visible and calibration repeatable, such as scripts, dashboards, and automated checks.