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Principal Software Engineer, Software Platform and Data

Brighton, Colorado (Hybrid)

The Company
Outrider is a software company that is automating distribution yards with electric, self-driving trucks. Our system eliminates manual tasks that are hazardous and repetitive while it improves safety and efficiency. Outrider’s mission is to drive the rapid adoption of sustainable freight transportation. We are a private company founded in 2018 and backed by NEA, 8VC, Koch Disruptive Technologies, NVIDIA, and other top-tier investors. Our customers are Fortune 200 companies and our autonomous trucks are already running in distribution yards. For more information, visit www.outrider.ai

At Outrider, you'll develop, improve upon, and ship cutting-edge software that drives next-generation freight transportation. Your work will directly contribute to autonomous systems that move millions of tons of freight across shipping & logistics centers, revolutionizing the way goods are transported globally. Over time, your contributions will enhance efficiency, safety, precision, and sustainability across the supply chain. Throughout your time at Outrider, you'll collaborate across teams and functions to build and maintain robust systems that keep the global economy moving.

The Role 
The Principal Software Engineer will report to the Software Platform and Data Manager, contributing as a technical lead to the development and maintenance of our autonomous vehicle platform and its supporting infrastructure. This platform consists of a containerized collection of ROS nodes and features, facilitating various aspects of vehicle functionality. 

Key responsibilities for this role include vehicle software architecture and execution environment, lead the support and development of the base operating system and its cloud-based configuration, over-the-air communication systems, yard inventory management, and yard tasks’ execution. Additionally, the Principal Software Engineer will be responsible for leading the architecture and deployment of the platform and its components.

This position plays an essential role in helping deliver a safety-critical system for industrial automation -- it offers a very talented software engineer the chance to help develop a market-defining enterprise product that combines autonomous vehicle technology with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model.

The ideal candidate will embrace our goal to drive zero-emission, self-driving vehicle adoption, and help us realize our potential to define, build, and lead a new category of robotic automation for the enterprise.

Duties & Key Objectives

  • Lead projects related to the maintenance and support the autonomous vehicle software and its platform
  • Lead projects and initiatives related to the development of autonomous software and supporting applications
  • Communicate effectively with stakeholders to define project requirements and the best way fulfill them
  • Contribute generally to the growth and success of the Company and the building of a vibrant culture focused on the responsible deployment of zero-emission autonomous vehicle technology
  • While this is an accurate reflection of the position, Outrider reserves the right to require additional/different tasks to be performed as needed
  • Travel to our Brighton, CO office (around 20% of the time but this might change depending on projects)

Required Qualifications

  • 5+ years experience developing autonomous systems and ROS
  • Proven experience leading technical projects from conception to final delivery
  • Experience developing application software in Modern C++
  • Background developing software in a Linux environment
  • Prior use of FOSS tools supporting software engineering, such as CMake, continuous integration packages, the Google test framework and others
  • Experience with containerized environments, such as Docker
  • Knowledge of graphical user interface (GUI) toolkits for implementation of engineering dashboards and tools
  • Excellent understanding of the software development life cycle
  • Ability to learn in unstructured environments
  • Self-motivated technical lead which will be able to add structure and momentum to diverse technical projects

Ideal Qualifications

  • Familiarity with Python
  • Experience with Git
  • Proficiency with Qt, OpenGL and/or other visualization and graphic tools/packages
  • Experience working in competitive AI companies & startups
  • Strong written and oral communication skills

Compensation & Benefits

  • Salary: $150,000 - $225,000
  • Equity: Significant equity package commensurate on experience and skills
  • Benefits: Full health benefits
  • Home office stipend up to $500 to help you create a comfortable and productive workspace.
  • Actual compensation is based on several factors, including but not limited to job-related skills, qualifications, experience, and specific work location due to differences in the cost of labor

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