Relay Robotics

Senior/Staff Autonomy Software Generalist at Relay Robotics (San Jose, CA)

Relay Robotics· San Jose, CA· $120k–$200k·

Role details

Salary
$120k–$200k
Work type
Onsite
Employment
Full-Time

Job description

Join Relay Robotics – Transforming Healthcare with Cutting-Edge Service Robots

Robotics is at the forefront of autonomous service robotics, revolutionizing how work gets done in hospitals, hotels, and beyond. With over 1.5 million deliveries completed, our robots are redefining efficiency, safety, and service excellence.  Our customers are raving fans who love their robot team members for their reliability, simplicity, and the outstanding level of service we provide. Our expert team brings deep experience in robotics, engineering, software, operations, and customer success, working closely with clients to ensure smooth, tailored robot deployments that deliver real-world results.

We’re looking for an autonomy software generalist to work across the full robotics stack — perception, localization, mapping, and planning — while collaborating closely with hardware, firmware, applications, and operations teams. This is a broad role suited to someone who thrives on solving problems end-to-end, from algorithm design to fleet-scale deployment, and who stays energized by the fast pace of advances in robotics and AI.

Responsibilities

  • Design, implement, tune, and improve path and motion planning algorithms for safe, smooth, and continuous robot motion in large-scale, dynamic environments.
  • Develop perception algorithms using both deep learning and classical geometric computer vision.
  • Implement, tune, and maintain localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, applying state-of-the-art ML approaches where they add value.
  • Perform sensor selection and evaluation across lidar, cameras, and ToF sensors, balancing performance against cost and other constraints.
  • Develop and maintain calibration algorithms for the above sensors.
  • Help shape the autonomy roadmap by identifying technical gaps and risks, proposing prioritized initiatives, and translating them into milestones
  • Build tooling and metrics to test, evaluate, and continuously improve fleet performance, including regression detection and proactive service triggers.
  • Own high-quality software engineering practices: version control (GitHub), code review, CI/CD, and maintaining build and deployment pipelines.
  • Work cross-functionally with hardware, firmware, applications, and operations teams to develop, ship, and scale new products.

Requirements

  • Master’s degree in Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

- 4 or more years developing production robotics or autonomy software.

- Strong proficiency in ROS, C++ and Python in a Linux environment.

- Hands-on experience implementing and tuning algorithms in two or more of: perception, path/motion planning, localization/mapping, sensor calibration.

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Experience with deploying deep learning models

- Solid software engineering fundamentals: Git, code review, CI/CD, and build pipeline maintenance.

- Practical experience working with real sensor data from lidar, cameras, and/or ToF sensors.

- Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally and ship to real hardware.

Nice to Haves

- Familiarity with cutting-edge ML approaches to localization, mapping, and perception (e.g., object detection and tracking, learned features, visual place recognition).

- Experience with cloud-based or collaborative/lifelong SLAM systems.

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Experience with containerization and deployment tooling

- A track record of staying current with robotics and AI research and bringing new ideas into practice.

Why Join Relay Robotics? Be part of a pioneering robotics company that’s transforming healthcare.

Work with a collaborative, passionate, and smart team.

Play a key role in scaling an innovative technology that’s reshaping industries.

Enjoy a dynamic, mission-driven culture where your impact is tangible.

If you're excited by the opportunity to revolutionize healthcare through robotics and want to work in a high-growth environment, we’d love to meet you.

Relay Robotics is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Compensation

$120,000 to $200,000 + Equity + Benefits

Compensation: Based on experience and qualifications.

Why work at Relay Robotics

  • Culture highlights: A driven, diverse team committed to great products; emphasis on making an impact through robotics automation.
  • Remote/hybrid/office policy: Many roles are listed as remote (e.g., Enterprise Solutions Associate, Senior Sales Executive) but some positions (e.g., Field Technician in Amsterdam) require on-site presence. Headquarters in Campbell, CA offers an office.
  • Notable perks: Flexible work arrangements, generous benefits, and the opportunity to shape the future of service robotics. The hiring process may use AI tools to support application review, but human judgment remains final.
  • Engineering culture: Strong technical depth (13 employees in technical roles) with talent sourced from ABB, Honda Research, PARC, and Willow Garage. Alumni go on to Covariant, Stanford, Iron ox, and others.

Application questions