C++ Software Engineer (Deployment in Real Autonomous Robots)

About the role

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗖++ 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗖++ 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀, 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲.

One role, three levels. You do not pick yours before applying; the team places you at the level your skills and scope earn during the process, and the offer matches it.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗬

Pave Talent is hiring on behalf of our client, a venture-backed robotics company under 200 people building autonomous ground robots for industrial inspection, infrastructure, energy, and public safety customers. The robots ship. They run on customer sites, on unstructured terrain, in real weather. Engineering is one small interdisciplinary group, so software, controls, and hardware engineers sit close and argue things out in person.

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲

• Engineers who finish things. The team's hardest hiring problem is people who can design beautifully and never ship
• People who take direct code review feedback, change the design, and move on without friction
• Builders who came from robotics, automation, aerospace, or another complex physical product, and understand that hardware does not care about your abstraction
• Engineers who want to own the build system and continuous integration (CI) as much as the algorithms, because both decide how fast the robot improves

This is not the role if you want to spend two years on one research thread, or if you have only worked on pure software products where the deploy target is a server.

𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Your name is on core code within weeks, not quarters. You set the C++ standards, own the development environment, and influence architecture across the whole codebase instead of one service inside it. Lead is open now if you want direct reports. Senior and Staff stay fully individual contributor if you do not.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬

You write the core C++ that the robotics, controls, and perception teams build on, and you own the engineering environment around it. The gap on this team is not algorithms. It is someone whose default instinct is clean architecture, tested code, and a build pipeline that does not break.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗟𝗟 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗

• Design, implement, and maintain production C++ (C++17/20) for robotics systems running on real hardware
• Work daily in modern C++: RAII, smart pointers, move semantics, templates, concurrency primitives, thread safety, clean application programming interface (API) and library design
• Shape system architecture around performance, safety, and maintainability
• Build and maintain GitLab continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for build, test, and deployment
• Improve CMake build systems and dependency management across the codebase
• Write unit and integration tests and support automated testing workflows
• Set up and maintain the Linux development environments the whole team works in
• Run code reviews and raise the bar on code quality across the team

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞

This team has interviewed roughly 100 people across their open software roles and has not hired. It is a profile problem, not a bar problem. Candidates fail on live C++ under observation, on explaining a technical decision clearly, on taking feedback in the room, and on turning a concept into a finished product instead of an interesting prototype. Strong on all four and you will find this process fast and fair. If your career has been fintech or web backend work leaning on framework scaffolding, this is an honest mismatch.

𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦

𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱:

• Strong modern C++ (C++17 or newer) with production systems you shipped. The team weighs what you built over where your degree is from. An advanced degree in computer science, electrical or computer engineering, or robotics is one path in. Equivalent industry experience is just as welcome
• At least 2 years of industry experience on a complex physical product, robotics, automation, aerospace, or similar. This is a hard requirement from the hiring team, not a preference
• Hands-on Linux development experience
• Git and collaborative workflows
• Experience setting up or maintaining CI pipelines, GitLab CI preferred
• Familiarity with CMake or comparable build systems
• Permanent U.S. residency, and the ability to clear standard background checks before and during employment
• On-site in Philadelphia five days a week. There is no remote option for this role

𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀:

• Robotics, embedded systems, or real-time software background
• Robot Operating System (ROS / ROS 2)
• Cross-compilation or embedded Linux
• Performance profiling and optimization
• Docker or containerized development environments
• Python or other scripting for tooling
• A master's or PhD paired with industry experience. The hiring managers lean toward that combination, and lab or university researchers moving into product work are actively welcome

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦

Five steps, and you will know where you stand at each one.

• A 30-minute technical screen with us at Pave Talent before anything goes to the client
• An initial phone screen with their people team
• A 45-minute technical conversation
• A live CoderPad coding interview with team members
• An on-site final focused on collaboration and fit

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗦

𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆: $135,000 to $165,000, placed by level as described above

𝗔𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀: variable compensation that has averaged at least 15% of base, prorated in year one. This is the actual historical average, not a stretch target

𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆: every engineer is on the equity plan

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: assessed individually, scaled to your distance from Philadelphia and family size

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳: flexible time off policy

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀: full medical package. Ask us for the current plan details and we will send them

𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Philadelphia, PA, on-site, full-time

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹: none required, though domestic and international field opportunities exist if you want them

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗬

Apply via LinkedIn and we'll reach out to schedule a conversation. Confidential search; your application is fully private.

𝗣𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 | 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱