Senior Software Engineer (Robotics)

Job details

Work model

On-site

Salary

$160K - $220K

Location

San Francisco, CA

Occupation

Software Developers(O*NET 15-1252.00)

Hiring context

How this role compares at Droyd

Droyd has 25 live roles in MeritLog’s catalog across 7 job families, and 11 of them are in engineering. 20 of those listings publish a pay range, a disclosure rate of 80%.

This role's posted range of $160K - $220K sits above 89% of the 18 other Droyd roles quoted over the same currency and period.

Counted across the job boards MeritLog tracks, at the time this page was served. Pay comparisons use only listings that publish a complete range in the same currency and period.

What the role asks for

Parsed by MeritLog from the employer’s own posting. The full description follows below.

Job description

About the Team Droyd builds autonomous robotic systems that automate repetitive manual work in real environments. We design and manufacture our hardware in-house, which means iteration, fabrication, and execution all happen under one roof. Our robots depend on tight coordination between hardware, robotics, and product software. Our software team builds the systems that connect models to motors, sensors to decisions, and fleets to operators - backend services, schemas, transport layers, and the glue that makes the full system work reliably. This code runs on real robots, in production. About the Role As a Senior Software Engineer at Droyd, you will own core parts of the software stack that powers our robotic systems. You will work on the systems that connect the robotics stack to product-facing software: backend services, real-time transport, fleet infrastructure, and the boundary between robot-facing systems and front-end applications. You might work on Rust services, low-latency streaming pipelines, hardware integrations, or the interface layer between the bridge and the frontend. You will work in person with a small, senior team across robotics, AI, and hardware - your work ships directly to deployed robots. This role is based on-site in San Francisco, CA. In This Role, You'll Backend & Systems - Architect, design, implement, and test backend systems for AI models running on edge devices and GPUs - Build Rust services using tools like Axum and Tokio - Define and maintain FlatBuffers schemas and system interfaces Real-Time & Fleet Infrastructure - Develop and optimize low-latency streaming and video processing pipelines - Build and improve MoQ/WebTransport-based data and media paths - Build and maintain tooling for observability, fleet management, calibration, and system reliability Integration & Ownership - Own integrations with external robotic systems, including ROS2 nodes, SDKs, and hardware control interfaces - Own parts of the bridge-to-frontend boundary and related application infrastructure - Support deployment to real hardware and debug production issues in the field - Collaborate closely with front-end, robotics, and hardware teams to keep the full system coherent and fast Work Environment & Schedule - On-site in San Francisco, CA - Full-time Compensation: $160K–$220K base salary, plus equity We're Looking For Candidates Who - Have strong generalist software engineering ability with experience building backend or systems software in production - Are comfortable working across APIs, schemas, transport layers, and real-time systems - Have strong knowledge of Linux systems, networking, and process management - Are comfortable in large codebases and performance-sensitive environments - Can take ownership of complex systems end to end - Have strong engineering judgment and thrive in fast-moving startup environments Nice to have: - Experience with Rust (including embedded HALs such as Embassy), Axum, or Tokio - Experience with hardware interfaces like UART, I2C, CAN, or EtherCAT - Experience with FlatBuffers or similar schema systems - Experience with WebTransport, WebRTC, GStreamer/DeepStream, or other streaming systems - Experience at robotics startups or on hardware-adjacent software systems About Droyd Droyd builds autonomous robotic systems that operate in real production environments. We design the hardware, develop the control stack, and generate the data that enables generalist robotics. If we do this right, robots stop being demos and start being infrastructure. Join us and help build the systems that make it real.