The Software Engineer will design and develop middleware for autonomous vehicles, focusing on performance optimization and collaboration across teams to ensure code quality and functionality.
Shipping the software that powers Zoox's revolutionary autonomous vehicles is an extremely challenging job. As a Software Engineer on the Robotics Middleware team, you will be pivotal in designing and developing the middleware framework for our autonomous vehicle software stack.
This role contributes to the entire software organization by seeking opportunities to make our software and engineering teams more efficient and productive. You will regularly tackle complex, cross-functional challenges that impact multiple teams, helping to ensure our stack remains robust, scalable, and safety-critical.
This role demands strong expertise in real-time computing, cross-platform development, and abstraction layer design. You’ll be responsible for contributing to performance optimization and ensuring efficient, modular, and maintainable code. Your deep debugging and problem-solving skills will support high-quality solutions across our middleware. This position requires strong teamwork to collaborate on technical decisions, foster cross-functional partnerships, and uphold engineering best practices. Your excellence in technical communication, paired with your ability to balance technical precision with practical delivery, will ensure impactful outcomes across Zoox's software organization.
In this role, you will:
- Contribute to the technical direction and architecture of our robotics middleware platform and the runtime control system
- Develop and maintain platform-agnostic middleware components, including Robot state machine, software interfaces, task schedulers, data transport layers, diagnostic reporting, and message interfaces
- Participate in design reviews and code reviews to maintain high code quality and share knowledge
- Collaborate extensively with software teams across the organization to ensure the middleware meets all technical requirements
- Participate in technical forums, contribute to technical documentation, and adhere to established best practices
Qualifications
- 3+ years of professional software development experience
- Strong proficiency in modern C++ (C++14/17)
- Strong background in developing scalable, distributed applications in Linux and the Nvidia Drive platform
- Experience with GPU/CUDA programming
- Experience with robotics frameworks/middleware (e.g., ROS/ROS2)
Bonus Qualifications
- Experience with different processor architectures (e.g., X86, ARM)
- Experience with AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code)
- Proven experience in high-performance, distributed, and resource-constrained software systems
About Zoox
Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.
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Accommodations
If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to [email protected] or your assigned recruiter.
A Final Note:
You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.
Top Skills
C++
Cuda
Gpu
Linux
Nvidia Drive
Ros
Ros2
Zoox Foster City, California, USA Office
4000 E 3rd Ave, Foster City, CA, United States, 94404
Zoox Foster City, California, USA Office
1149 Chess Drive, Foster City, CA, United States, 94404
Zoox Fremont, California, USA Office
47540 Kato Road, Fremont, CA, United States, 94538
Zoox San Francisco, California, USA Office
60 Broadway St, San Francisco, CA, United States, 94111
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