Job Summary
Knightscope is looking for a Sr. Architect to lead the design of our AI-native Signals platform, the real-time data and intelligence layer that ingests, fuses, and acts on signals from our autonomous machines, sensors, and security operations. This is a hands-on architecture role responsible for setting the technical direction for a platform that must scale from edge device to cloud with low-latency, high-reliability requirements.
About the Role
As Sr. Architect for the Signals platform, you will own the end-to-end architecture for how Knightscope's autonomous machines and security devices generate, transmit, process, and surface actionable signals. You'll partner closely with hardware, robotics, ML, and product teams to define data contracts, streaming and event-driven architecture, and the AI/ML pipelines that turn raw sensor data into real-time alerts and insights for customers and operators. You will set engineering standards, mentor senior engineers, and make build-vs-buy and platform investment decisions that shape the future of autonomous security.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and own the technical architecture for Knightscope's AI-native Signals platform, from edge sensor/device ingestion through cloud processing and customer-facing delivery.
- Design real-time, event-driven, and streaming data pipelines capable of fusing signals from autonomous machines, robots, and IoT devices at scale.
- Architect the AI/ML infrastructure and model-serving layer that turns raw signal data into actionable alerts, insights, and automated responses.
- Set platform-wide standards for data contracts, APIs, observability, security, and reliability across engineering teams.
- Partner with Robotics, ML, Product, and Security Operations teams to translate field requirements into scalable platform capabilities.
- Evaluate build-vs-buy decisions and lead technical due diligence on new platform components and vendors.
- Mentor senior and staff engineers, and act as a technical escalation point for the Signals platform.
- Drive architectural reviews and ensure the platform meets low-latency, high-availability requirements for mission-critical security use cases.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of software engineering experience with 3+ years in a lead architect or principal engineer role.
- Proven experience architecting large-scale, real-time data platforms (streaming, event-driven, or pub/sub architectures such as Kafka, Kinesis, or Pulsar).
- Strong background in AI/ML systems architecture, including model serving, feature pipelines, and MLOps.
- Deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred), and microservices design.
- Experience architecting systems that ingest data from IoT, robotics, or edge devices is highly preferred.
- Track record of setting technical direction, driving architectural decisions, and mentoring senior engineers.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to align cross-functional stakeholders around a technical roadmap.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Compensation & Benefits
- Base Salary: $240,000 - $295,000 (DOE)
- Equity: Stock options
- Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), paid time off
- Location Requirement: Full-time, on-site at Sunnyvale HQ
