Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related field
5+ years of experience in building and shipping production-quality software, particularly in robotics or autonomy
Expert-level proficiency in Python and C++ with a focus on clean, maintainable code
Hands-on experience with ROS2, including custom node development
Proven track record in building behavior orchestration systems like behavior trees and state machines
Experience with human-in-the-loop systems such as HRI and teleoperation
Strong system design skills across APIs, IPC, and real-time data pipelines
Responsibilities
Own the behavior and mission layer for operationalizing autonomy into customer-facing missions
Architect behavior orchestration for mission definition, execution, and recovery in unstructured environments
Design and build human-robot interaction behaviors
Validate behaviors on physical platforms under real customer conditions
Lead design reviews and make architecture decisions to elevate team standards
Mentor engineers and collaborate across various teams including autonomy and product deployment
Benefits
Comprehensive benefits package
Equity participation
Opportunity to work on cutting-edge advancements in AI and robotics
Full Job Description
Irvine, CA • Engineering - Autonomy • Full time • On-site
As a Senior Software Engineer in Behavior & Interaction, you will own the software systems that turn raw autonomy into finished missions. You operationalize that autonomy into repeatable, user-facing missions, design how humans task and collaborate with our robots, and deliver the insights our customers actually act on. You will architect and ship the behavior orchestration, robot interaction, and mission-to-insight pipelines that operate in some of the world's challenging industrial environments. This is a senior role for an engineer who wants to own systems end to end,and see their work run in the field. What You Will Get To Do
Own the behavior and mission layer that operationalizes autonomy: design and build the software that turns core autonomy capabilities into repeatable, reliable, customer-facing missions.
Architect behavior orchestration for autonomous missions: mission definition and execution, and robust fallback and recovery behaviors for unstructured environments.
Design and build human and robot interaction behavior.
Validate behaviors on physical platforms in real customer conditions, then close the loop from field data back into the product.
Lead design reviews, make architecture decisions, and raise the engineering bar across the team.
Mentor engineers and collaborate across autonomy, perception, product, field deployment, and customer-facing teams.
What You Have
Master's degree or PhD degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field, and significant experience building and shipping production-quality software (senior-level; typically 5+ years, with meaningful robotics or autonomy work).
Expert-level Python and C++, writing clean, efficient, maintainable code using modern best practices.
Deep, hands-on experience with ROS2, designing, building, and deploying custom nodes and complex systems into production robots.
Proven experience building behavior orchestration systems (behavior trees, state machines, task/mission planning and execution).
Experience building human-in-the-loop or operator-facing systems: HRI, teleoperation, supervisory control, dashboards, or tasking and monitoring tools.
Strong system design skills across APIs, inter-process communication (IPC), middleware, networking, and real-time data pipelines.
A track record of shipping to production and iterating from real-world use, including turning field data into product improvements.
Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail, able to lead independently while managing multiple priorities.
Highly self-motivated, with excellent written and verbal communication skills and a strong collaborative mindset.
What Will Set You Apart
Experience deploying robotic software in production industrial environments
Background in robotics reasoning, planning, or HRI
Experience with fleet management or multi-robot coordination.
Familiarity with perception and machine learning
Background on computationally constrained platforms and optimizing for real-time performance.
Understanding of safety standards and compliance in robotics.
Compensation and Benefits
$160,000 - $220,000 a year
Our salary range is highly competitive with the market, but we take into consideration an individual's background and experience in determining final salary. Base pay offered may vary depending on geographic location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, and the Irvine, California market. In addition to competitive compensation, FieldAI offers comprehensive benefits, equity participation, and the opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge advancements in AI and robotics.
