Simulation Runtime Engineer

Caterpillar Inc.•Irving, TX

1d•$97,530 - $158,480•Onsite

About The Position

At Caterpillar, technology always has a purpose, which is to solve our customers' toughest challenges. Construction autonomy is one of the most complex challenges in applied AI, and at Caterpillar, advancements in physical AI, simulation, sensing, and edge computing are turning things that once felt impossible—intelligent machines operating in dynamic jobsites—into reality. Role Definition: The Simulation Runtime Engineer will develop and support core runtime components, tools, and integrations used to execute simulation, digital twin, robotics, and autonomy workloads. Working with senior and lead engineers, the role will implement production-quality software for runtime services, physics integration, APIs, developer tooling, packaging, testing, and performance improvement.

Requirements

Software development experience in C++, Python, C#, Java, or another relevant language, with strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented design.
Experience with Linux, Git, build systems, debugging tools, automated testing, and CI/CD workflows.
Knowledge of simulation, game engines, robotics, physics engines, distributed systems, or real-time software is preferred.
Exposure to Unreal Engine, NVIDIA Omniverse, Isaac Sim, Unity, Gazebo, AirSim, CARLA, or comparable tools is preferred.
Understanding of APIs, SDKs, software packaging, dependency management, configuration systems, and integration testing.
Ability to diagnose software issues through logs, debuggers, profiling tools, and systematic troubleshooting.
Experience with Docker, cloud environments, GPU-enabled applications, or performance optimization is a plus.
Strong communication, teamwork, learning, and documentation skills.
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, or a related discipline.
Typically 2+ years of software engineering experience; relevant academic, research, internship, or project experience may be considered.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of simulation, game engines, robotics, physics engines, distributed systems, or real-time software is preferred.
Exposure to Unreal Engine, NVIDIA Omniverse, Isaac Sim, Unity, Gazebo, AirSim, CARLA, or comparable tools is preferred.
Experience with Docker, cloud environments, GPU-enabled applications, or performance optimization is a plus.

Responsibilities

Develop, test, and maintain simulation runtime components, reusable libraries, services, tools, and integrations using C++ and Python.
Implement features supporting simulation startup, configuration, lifecycle management, execution, shutdown, error handling, and results collection.
Integrate runtime components with Unreal Engine, NVIDIA Omniverse, Isaac Sim, physics engines, scenario systems, and platform services.
Create and maintain APIs, SDKs, configuration interfaces, command-line tools, and developer utilities.
Support simulation packaging, dependency management, build systems, artifacts, automated deployment, and release workflows.
Develop automated unit, integration, regression, and performance tests for runtime components.
Profile and improve CPU, GPU, memory, startup, throughput, latency, and runtime stability.
Troubleshoot software defects, integration failures, build issues, and performance problems under guidance from senior engineers.
Work with scenario, rendering, digital twin, platform, and QA engineers to integrate and validate end-to-end simulation workflows.
Participate in design reviews, code reviews, sprint planning, demonstrations, and technical documentation.
Follow engineering standards for modularity, maintainability, version control, testing, security, and documentation.
Contribute to developer tooling and workflow improvements that make simulation software easier to build, run, debug, and release.