Principal Robotics Engineer

Symbotic•USA Austin, TX

18h•Hybrid

About The Position

Symbotic is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our Perception organization, based in Austin, TX, where our loading dock automation and automated forklift engineering is concentrated. You will play a central, hands-on role in designing and developing perception software for these systems, and will help grow and mentor other engineers as this work scales. While the primary emphasis of this role is deep Perception expertise, the ideal candidate is also comfortable stepping beyond Perception when needed — into areas like Controls, system architecture, CI, program-level planning, or owning customer-facing KPIs — as is typical for senior engineers working on autonomous vehicle systems. We are looking for people who thrive in a creative, collaborative, and agile development environment.

Requirements

A minimum of a Master's degree in a related discipline (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Mathematics, etc.).
Minimum 10 years of professional experience developing software for complex, real-time systems.
Deep expertise in Perception for robotics: SLAM, sensor fusion, state estimation, computer vision, and processing multiple cameras and/or LiDARs in real time.
A track record of taking complex robotic systems into production and making them work reliably , with evidence of measurable value delivered (uptime, throughput, reduced faults, etc.) — not just prototypes or research demos.
You have led complex engineering efforts and know what it takes to deliver while still having a healthy team.
Experience mentoring or growing other engineers.
Comfort and prior experience operating with a broader technical scope beyond Perception when needed — for example Controls, system architecture, CI/CD, planning, or customer-facing KPI ownership — as is typical for senior engineers working on autonomous vehicle systems.
Experience developing software for embedded or GPU-accelerated platforms (e.g., Nvidia) is a plus.
Experience with Linux development, Docker, and CI/CD tools.
Comfortable with asynchronous or multithreaded programming.
Experience with event-driven architectures, messaging systems, and protocols (e.g., ROS, ROS2).
Experience with Agile development methodology.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including comfort engaging directly with customer/program stakeholders on technical scope and tradeoffs.
Willingness to be based in / work extensively from Austin, TX.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience with autonomous mobile robots, automated forklifts, or similarly complex, safety-relevant automated systems strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Play a central, hands-on role designing and developing real-time, high-performance perception software for automated forklift and loading dock automation systems.
Serve as a leading technical contributor within the Perception organization for this work, operating in close integration with the broader Symbotic engineering org.
Mentor and grow other engineers, helping build technical capability on the team as this work scales.
Analyze and address the root cause of issues affecting product performance, applying systems-level thinking about how perception interacts with the rest of the system.
Drive project scoping and requirement specification, providing leadership with the technical insight needed to create long-term technical roadmaps.
Represent engineering in technical discussions with customer program stakeholders on the direction and scope of the loading dock automation / automated forklift program, including ownership of relevant customer-facing KPIs as needed.
Operate with a broader technical scope beyond Perception when the work calls for it — spanning areas such as Controls, system architecture, CI/CD practices, or cross-team planning — as is typical for senior engineers working on autonomous vehicle systems.
Build high-quality software in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, and drive best practices and quality standards.