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Senior DevOps Engineer (Embedded Linux/Yocto Focus)

Austin, TX

Apptronik is building robots for the real world to improve human quality of life and to help solve the ever-increasing labor shortage problem. Our team has been building some of the most advanced robots on the planet for years, dating back to the DARPA Robotics Challenge. We apply our expertise across the full robotics stack to some of the most important and impactful problems our society faces, and expect our products and technology to change the world for the better.  We value passion, creativity, and collaboration to help us overcome existing technological barriers in the industry to create truly innovative products. 

You will join a team developing state-of-the-art general-purpose robots designed to operate in human spaces and with human tools. It is designed to work alongside humans, mobilize to human spaces, and manipulate the world around it.

In this role, you will be responsible for architecting and implementing our Yocto Project-based build and deployment system from the ground up. Beyond the initial build-out, you will maintain, scale, and evolve this critical infrastructure to support our rapid development cycles. You will work closely with our robotics, controls, and perception engineers to ensure a stable, efficient, and highly automated development lifecycle for our Nvidia Jetson (ARM) and AMD compute platforms. The ideal candidate is a hands-on expert in Yocto and CI/CD who is passionate about building robust, automated systems and thrives in a collaborative, innovative environment.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

CI/CD Pipeline Architecture and Ownership:

  • Architect, build, and own the end-to-end Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) pipelines for the company’s embedded Linux OS.
  • Implement and manage automated deployment workflows targeting both our ARM (Nvidia Jetson) and AMD64 hardware platforms.
  • Continuously improve and maintain the pipelines, integrating automated testing, security scanning, and artifact management to ensure reliability and speed.

Embedded OS and Build System Management:

  • Manage and evolve our custom Yocto Project environment, including layers, recipes, and machine configurations (BSPs).
  • Optimize Yocto build performance and efficiency using tools like shared state cache (sstate-cache), download mirrors, and parallelization.
  • Establish and enforce best practices for the entire embedded Linux build process, making it scalable and maintainable.

Deployment and Over-the-Air (OTA) Updates:

  • Design and implement a robust Over-the-Air (OTA) update strategy (e.g., A/B partition updates) to ensure our robots can be updated reliably in the field.
  • Oversee the deployment, validation, and maintenance of the OTA update mechanism.
  • Manage hardware-specific requirements and configurations within the deployment workflow.

Team Collaboration and Mentorship:

  • Act as the subject matter expert for the embedded Linux build system, providing support and guidance to the wider engineering team.
  • Develop and maintain clear, comprehensive documentation for the system’s architecture, operation, and troubleshooting procedures.
  • Mentor other engineers on DevOps best practices and empower the team to effectively utilize the CI/CD infrastructure.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

  • Proven expertise in designing and implementing solutions using the Yocto Project (BitBake, OpenEmbedded Core, layers, recipes, machine configurations, BSPs).
  • Strong, demonstrable experience architecting, implementing, and owning CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitLab CI, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
  • Solid understanding of Linux OS fundamentals, system administration, and proficient shell scripting (Bash).
  • Hands-on experience deploying OS/software to embedded hardware targets.
  • Direct experience working with both ARM (Nvidia Jetson preferred) and x86_64 (AMD) architectures.
  • Expertise in Yocto build optimization techniques (sstate-cache, download mirrors, etc.).
  • Exceptional documentation skills: Ability to produce clear, comprehensive technical documentation for complex, evolving systems.
  • Strong mentorship and collaboration skills: A desire to share knowledge, empower teammates, and foster best practices within the engineering organization.
  • Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.
  • Strong communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience with specific OTA update frameworks (e.g., SWUpdate, Mender, RAUC).
  • Experience with containerization (Docker, Podman) for build environments.
  • Experience with Kubernetes.
  • Programming experience in Python.
  • Experience with Nvidia Jetson flashing tools and JetPack SDK.
  • Understanding of secure boot processes.
  • Experience managing artifacts (e.g., Artifactory).

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 7+ years of relevant experience in DevOps, Infrastructure, or Software Engineering with a focus on embedded systems.
  • At least 3+ years of direct, hands-on experience building and maintaining systems with the Yocto Project.

 

 

*This is a direct hire.  Please, no outside Agency solicitations. 

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

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