Systems Software Engineer (Linux)

My client is an Austin based, start-up applied AI company building autonomous robotic and drone systems for defense and national security clients. The team is small and technically deep — engineers work across the full stack, from hardware bring-up to system integration to production software. This role will build and integrate software for robotic platforms operating in complex, real-world environments — connecting Linux-based software systems to physical sensors, cameras, radios, and compute modules. The work spans hardware bring-up through production deployment, with close collaboration across electrical, mechanical, and robotics engineering teams.ResponsibilitiesDevelop and integrate software for Linux-based robotic and embedded systemsIntegrate hardware components — sensors, cameras, radios, compute modules, peripheral devicesDesign and maintain interfaces between software services, hardware devices, and middlewareBuild communication interfaces using IPC mechanisms and hardware communication protocolsSupport hardware bring-up, software validation, and system integrationDebug and troubleshoot complex system-level software and hardware integration issuesOptimise software for performance, reliability, and maintainabilityCollaborate with electrical, mechanical, and robotics engineers to deliver complete systemsSupport simulation, HIL testing, field testing, and customer deploymentsContribute to software architecture and system design discussionsOccasional travel for field testing, customer engagements, and team meetingsRequirements Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related fieldUS citizenship Strong C++ and Python programming experience in production environmentsStrong Linux systems development experienceExperience integrating software with hardware systems (sensors, cameras, actuators, embedded boards)Experience with hardware bring-up, system integration, and platform validationMulti-threaded and/or multi-process application developmentIPC mechanisms: sockets, shared memory, message passingHardware communication protocols: Ethernet, CAN, USB, UART, SPI, I2CStrong debugging and troubleshooting skills across software and hardware layersAbility to work effectively within multidisciplinary engineering teamsNice to Have ROS / ROS2 experienceRobotics or autonomous systems backgroundRTOS or embedded Linux (Yocto, Buildroot)Experience in defense, national security, or government-adjacent contextsHardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing experienceSimulation environment experience (Gazebo, CARLA, custom)What we are looking for (beyond the CV)Systems thinker: comfortable holding the full picture across SW and HWPragmatic: builds for reliability and maintainability, not just proof-of-conceptEffective communicator across non-software disciplines (electrical, mechanical, robotics teams)Comfortable with ambiguity and the pace of a small, technically deep teamWillingness to own problems end-to-end — bring-up to deployment