Principal, Robotics Software Engineer
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 robotics stack on Archimedes - perception, control, autonomy, and the infrastructure that lets us ship. You'll partner directly with our CTO and own the path from prototype code to deployed software. You're the senior IC who's done this at scale 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 robotics software stack
Formal release process, packaging, and deployment hygiene for fielded systems
CI/CD infrastructure and software org scaling alongside QA
Mentorship of robotics SWE team and setting the bar for code quality
Cross-functional alignment across perception, controls, embedded, and EE
Owning the path from prototype code to fielded software in customer hands
What We're Looking For:
10+ years of robotics software engineering with real shipped systems behind you
Senior IC track record at robotics companies that actually shipped to customers or operators
Deep ROS2 experience and the judgment to know when not to use it
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 IC at robotics companies that shipped, defense robotics groups, autonomy at automotive, or aerospace robotics 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: 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:
Real-time systems experience
Sensor fusion or perception background
Defense or safety-critical software release experience
Built CI/CD for robotics or hardware-in-the-loop systems before
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. At ~10 engineers, 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).