Back to jobs

Robotics Software Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA

The future of defense will be decided by those who field intelligent machines at scale. At Scout AI, we’re developing Fury, the first robotic foundation model for defense, to give U.S. forces overwhelming, adaptable, and autonomous power across every domain. Fury enables human operators to command fleets of robots through natural language, and empowers those machines to sense, decide, and act together as one. This mission will ask everything of us: urgency, precision, and relentless work.

The Role
We’re looking for a Robotics Software Engineer to design and build the software that powers intelligent robotic systems. You’ll work on perception, autonomy, control systems, and infrastructure that allow robots to operate reliably in complex environments. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving real-world problems at the intersection of robotics, AI, and scalable software systems. Your work will run on robots in complex, adversarial environments. Expect to move fast, test ideas aggressively, and break new ground as we create the first robotic foundation model for defense. We’re a startup. You’ll be moving fast, context-switching daily, and helping define the culture and process as we go. This is a rare opportunity to come in early and architect the future of defense.

Responsibilities

  • Design and deploy software for advanced drone hardware, promoting autonomous flight capabilities and delivery operations
  • Develop software for robotic perception, planning, and control
  • Develop dynamic memory, communication, and tool use faculties for AI agents
  • Build and maintain robotics infrastructure, simulation, and testing environments
  • Integrate sensors such as cameras, LiDAR, and IMUs into robotic systems
  • Implement and optimize algorithms for localization, mapping, and navigation
  • Work on autonomy pipelines from perception to action
  • Collaborate with hardware, AI, and product teams to ship robotic capabilities
  • Improve system reliability, performance, and real-world robustness
  • Contribute to deployment and monitoring of robotic systems in production environments

Qualifications

  • Strong programming skills in C++, Python, or similar languages
  • Experience developing robotics systems or autonomy software
  • Experience working with real-world robotics hardware or simulation environments
  • Strong debugging and system-level problem-solving skills
  • Ability to work across multiple layers of the robotics stack
  • Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities
  • Passion about defense of the United States and its allies
  • May be expected to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance

Why Join Scout

  • Work on the world’s most important frontier, ensuring U.S. and allied dominance in the age of intelligent machines
  • Be a core part of a team building the first defense-specific robotic foundation model
  • Collaborate with some of the top engineers in autonomy, AI, and national security
  • See your work deployed on real systems
  • Help define the future of intelligent defense systems
  • Backed by Draper Associates, Booz Allen Ventures, and other top investors

Benefits

  • Competitive base salary and bonus
  • Meaningful equity
  • Premium medical, dental, and vision plans with $0 paycheck contribution
  • Competitive PTO and company holiday calendar
  • Catered lunch daily and fully stocked kitchen
  • EV charging
  • Relocation assistance (depending on role eligibility)

The stated salary range below represents an estimated base pay only and reflects consideration of multiple compensation factors. Final salary offers may differ depending on factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience or training background, specialized skills, and business needs. Most full-time positions also include highly competitive equity awards, which form part of Scout AI's overall compensation package. In addition, Scout AI provides comprehensive, top-tier benefits to full-time employees.

US Salary Range

$145,000 - $220,000 USD

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Scout AI? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Phone
Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf


Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Scout AI’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...