Principal Robotics Software Engineer
Aurelius Systems · San Francisco
Who We Are:
Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones.
We're a small team of engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America's directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system.
Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable.
In addition to our San Francisco lab, we’ve opened a Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range.
The Role and Your Impact:
We need a Principal Robotics Software Engineer to lead architecture across the Archimedes robotics stack: tracking, control, autonomy, and the infrastructure that lets us ship. You'll partner directly with our CTO and engineering leadership and own the path from prototype code to deployed software. You're the senior IC who's done this at scale, still writes the critical code, and knows how to take a research-y stack into a deployable product without breaking it.
What You'll Own:
Architecture and technical direction for the whole robotics software stack
Performance and timing architecture: threading, process model and latency budgets across the system
Formal release process, packaging and deployment hygiene for fielded systems
CI/CD infrastructure and scaling the software org alongside QA
Mentorship of the robotics SWE team and the bar for code quality
Cross-functional alignment across controls, embedded, EE and optics
The path from prototype code to fielded software in customer hands
What We're Looking For:
10+ years shipping robotics or real-time, hardware-facing software
Deep production C++ and real-time systems experience; still hands-on
Senior IC track record at companies that shipped to customers or operators
Track record building and operating CI/CD for robotics or hardware-in-the-loop
Experience taking software through formal release, packaging and deployment to end users
Where you probably come from: Senior or principal IC at robotics companies that shipped, defense robotics, AV, aerospace, or F1 and high-performance automotive programs that put software in front of operators.
We want to talk if: You've taken software from "works on the dev's machine" to "works in the field for a customer." You know the difference between a prototype that demos and a release that survives.
Not a fit if: Your background is web, backend or full stack, you're a researcher who hasn't shipped, you're a people manager without recent IC chops, or your robotics experience is benchmark-only.
Nice to Haves:
ROS2, and the judgment to know when not to use it
Rust or other systems languages
Sensor fusion or perception background
Defense or safety-critical software release experience
Education: BS, MS or PhD in CS, Robotics, EE or equivalent. Track record matters more than degree.
How You Operate:
Extreme bias for action. You ship working code on real hardware, not slideware
You debug from first principles, not intuition alone
Comfortable with ambiguity and fast iteration in a startup environment
Clear communicator across software, hardware, and operator-facing surfaces
Self directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told
Why Join Aurelius Systems:
Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.
Career velocity is real. With no middle management, there are no layers between you and impact.
Work on a problem that actually matters. Small cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer — infinite magazine, near zero cost per shot, scalable to every base, border, facility, and truck.
Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built.
How We Work:
Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up — nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show.
Benefits:
Competitive salary and equity
United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage
Flexible 18 days PTO plus 5 sick days
Travel to field test events and range days
Covered daily lunches and office snacks and drinks
E-bike and scooter stipend up to $500
Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your work
Export Control Notice:
This role requires access to export-controlled information or items that require U.S. Person status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a U.S. Person: (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
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