Robotics and Autonomy Software Engineer

San Mateo, CAPosted Aug 5, 2026

About us

Zenos is a highly funded next-gen AI/robotics startup, with strong customer demand. We are delivering AI productivity to the physical world. We’re attacking a trillion dollar market opportunity with a world class team at lightning speed, and having a ton of fun while doing it.

This role is for someone who thrives in ambiguity, operates independently, and likes working on interesting and varied problems with smart people from places like Google, Amazon, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and Apple. Our founders previously started and sold a successful AI company with a nine figure exit, and our CEO has been an executive at a hyperscale tech company.

Join us early and take on outsized equity ownership. This is a chance to join a top company with a unique strategy to build the next phase of AI - in the physical world. We have a fun, friendly team, and are hiring fast.

We are currently in stealth mode, but excited to launch with major announcements soon.

What we’re looking for

We are looking for top engineers that combine experience with intellectual horsepower.

Excellence: A track record of designing, developing, and optimizing distributed robotics systems spanning software infrastructure, perception, sensor integration, and embedded hardware interfaces.

Sense of ownership: You will work with the team to set coding standards, define the tech stack, and mentor new hires as we scale.

Dynamic and resourceful: You enjoy defining the problem as you solve it, and work well with others to crack big challenges. You’re not afraid to dive into multiple parts of the stack and do something that is fundamentally new.

What you'll do

  • Design and implement robotics software systems for real-time robotic and autonomous platform operation

  • Build robustness through anticipation of edge cases, fault-tolerant error handling, and creation of debuggable systems

  • Implement sensor fusion pipelines integrating cameras, IMU, GPS, LiDAR, and other robotic sensing components

  • Develop software interfaces for embedded hardware, power systems, and robotic sensor subsystems

  • Setup simulation and training infrastructure accounting for performance, reliability, and scalability across distributed compute environments

  • Contribute to machine learning and computer vision for robotic perception and control via reinforcement learning

  • Collaborate across software, hardware, and research teams to prototype and productionize robotics capabilities

  • Optimize performance of robotics systems through profiling, testing, and systems optimization

  • Contribute to technical architecture decisions and subsystem ownership across robotics infrastructure

Nice to haves

  • Experience: Ideally 3+ years of professional experience in high-growth environments, leading technology companies, or elite research labs with a university degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field

  • AI/ML:any -especially sensor fusion, object recognition, reinforcement learning, and deep neural nets

  • Vehicles:any - especially autonomous vehicles, CAN bus, or integration of electrical or power-management subsystems with robotic platforms

  • Systems: multi-threading, dev ops, networking, linux

  • Languages:Python, C++, Rust, CUDA

The perks

  • Competitive salary + significant equity: we want you to own what you build

  • High-performance compute and development infrastructure

  • Full relocation support

  • 100% health coverage

  • Daily paid lunches

Location

Our HQ is in San Mateo, 25 minutes from San Francisco and Mountain View, walking distance from Caltrain. We’re building physical machines, so we aim for 4 days in-office with flexibility as needed.

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