Staff Autonomy Engineer

TAR•San Francisco, CA

11h•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Staff Autonomy Engineer, you will build critical autonomy software and help shape the technical direction of the stack that runs TAR's robots, from on-machine perception, planning, and controls to the fleet layer that coordinates many machines on one site. You will own a core technical area and solve problems across the autonomy stack and its hardware, working with leadership and the robotics, hardware, and field teams to set priorities, make architectural decisions, and turn ambiguous needs into concrete engineering work. Writing production code, debugging on real hardware, and validating results in the field are central to the role. You will also mentor engineers and help the team make better technical decisions. The role is based at our San Francisco engineering office, with West Texas occasional travel as needed.

Requirements

Typically 8+ years of production engineering experience, including ownership of robotics systems at scale and leadership of complex technical projects. We also welcome candidates with fewer years who can demonstrate comparable scope and impact.
Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
A strong record of personally shipping production autonomy software on real hardware, with current depth in implementation, debugging, and system design.
Experience owning a robotic system through development, field deployment, and ongoing operation.
Depth in at least one of perception, state estimation, planning, or controls, with real-time, safety-critical experience in Rust, C, C++.
Evidence of leading complex technical work across software, hardware, and field teams, including situations where requirements or ownership were initially unclear.
The judgment to choose an appropriately simple solution, recognize when a decision has wider consequences, and explain trade-offs clearly.
Experience translating field needs into technical priorities and an achievable delivery plan.
The ability to improve other engineers' work through collaboration, constructive feedback, and mentoring.
You do not need to have held a Staff title. We are interested in the scope of the work you have owned, the decisions you have made, and the results you can explain.

Nice To Haves

Experience building autonomy for energy, industrial infrastructure, robotics, or other environments where software interacts with physical systems in adverse conditions.
Deep experience in simulation, optimization, geospatial systems, design automation, product engineering, or industrial controls.
Experience building shared platforms or integrating systems across teams with different technical and operational needs.
Experience delivering software in a small team where you helped define both the problem and the approach.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and operate safety critical autonomy software across perception, localization, planning, and controls. Tune safety, reliability, and operational flow so that it adapts to construction and power sites with humans and other robots.
Own a part of the autonomy stack. Identify dependencies, sequence work, and make the consequences of competing priorities explicit.
Turn ambiguous needs into concrete technical proposals with clear scope, alternatives, and a practical path to delivery.
Influence architectural decisions across connected systems, such as how perception, planning, and controls share state and how the fleet layer deconflicts machines on one site. Establish clear interfaces while preserving ownership within individual engineering areas.
Communicate tradeoffs with mechanical, electrical, and manufacturing counterparts. Define how software exchanges telemetry and commands with the machine, handles communication failures, and passes testing before deployment.
Improve simulation, CI, testing, and release practices so the team validates changes before they reach a machine.
When needed, spend time at the West Texas site, closing the loop between field performance and software fixes.
Mentor engineers through design discussions, code reviews, and collaborative problem-solving. Contribute to hiring and help develop technical judgment across the team.