Sr. Robotics Middleware Engineer

ALTEN Technology USA•North Reading, MA

4d•$135,000 - $170,000•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Robotics Middleware Engineer to evaluate, prototype, and optimize next-generation communication middleware for advanced robotic systems. This role will focus on assessing emerging robotics transport technologies, including Zenoh, and improving high-throughput, low-latency messaging architectures on NVIDIA Jetson-class embedded platforms. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in ROS 2 middleware, DDS internals, shared-memory communication, and performance optimization for embedded Linux environments. Lead a comprehensive build-versus-adopt evaluation of Zenoh as a robotics communication transport, including: Standalone deployment models Integration as an RMW (ROS Middleware) layer within ROS 2 Technical recommendations supported by quantitative benchmarking and analysis Design, implement, and optimize zero-copy and shared-memory messaging architectures to maximize communication performance on NVIDIA Jetson platforms. Analyze and improve messaging pipelines through: Memory layout optimization Serialization efficiency enhancements Transport-layer tuning Resource utilization optimization Develop and execute benchmarking frameworks to measure: End-to-end latency Throughput CPU utilization GPU overhead Overall system performance versus existing communication architectures Collaborate with robotics, software, and systems engineering teams to identify and implement scalable middleware solutions for production robotic applications. Document findings, benchmark results, architectural recommendations, and implementation best practices.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
Deep hands-on experience with ROS 2 middleware architecture, RMW implementations, DDS internals and transport mechanisms.
Experience with Zenoh or comparable publish/subscribe communication frameworks, including eCAL, iceoryx, Cyclone DDS, Fast DDS.
Strong proficiency in modern C++ development.
Extensive knowledge of shared-memory inter-process communication (IPC), zero-copy messaging techniques, and high-performance distributed systems.
Experience profiling and optimizing software performance on embedded Linux and ARM-based platforms.
Strong analytical and benchmarking skills with a data-driven approach to architectural decision-making.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing and optimizing applications on NVIDIA Jetson platforms.
Understanding of GPU/CUDA memory management and GPU-aware communication strategies.
Experience with real-time operating systems and low-latency robotics applications.
Background in autonomous systems, robotics platforms, or edge computing environments.

Responsibilities

Lead a comprehensive build-versus-adopt evaluation of Zenoh as a robotics communication transport, including standalone deployment models, integration as an RMW (ROS Middleware) layer within ROS 2, and technical recommendations supported by quantitative benchmarking and analysis.
Design, implement, and optimize zero-copy and shared-memory messaging architectures to maximize communication performance on NVIDIA Jetson platforms.
Analyze and improve messaging pipelines through memory layout optimization, serialization efficiency enhancements, transport-layer tuning, and resource utilization optimization.
Develop and execute benchmarking frameworks to measure end-to-end latency, throughput, CPU utilization, GPU overhead, and overall system performance versus existing communication architectures.
Collaborate with robotics, software, and systems engineering teams to identify and implement scalable middleware solutions for production robotic applications.
Document findings, benchmark results, architectural recommendations, and implementation best practices.