Staff Systems Engineer - Network at 1X (San Carlos, CA)Staff Systems Engineer - Network

We're building humanoid robots that work in home - doing the chores, handling the tasks, and giving people their time back. Simple, but it's not.

To do this right, we have to solve robotics, AI, manufacturing - at the same time, at scale, in a form factor that has to be safe enough to live with your family. If you're inspired by this, you'll thrive here. We've been at this since 2014 and we're at the point where the hard problems are behind us and the hard work is in front of us.

NEO is our flagship - a home robot designed to move, learn, and operate in the real world alongside real people. We're not demoing it - we're shipping it. We're excited to meet you, if this excites you.

If you've spent your career working on problems that matter and want to see them actually reach the world - this is that moment. We're scaling, we're hiring with intention, and we need people who want to build something that will genuinely change how humans spend their time - safely creating abundance for all.

The Core team builds and owns the C++ infrastructure that NEO's entire stack runs on - sensor pipelines, motor control interfaces, networking, inter-process communication, and the foundational libraries that ship on every robot. Our code runs thousands of times per second on hardware moving through the real world, and its correctness and performance directly determine what every other team can build and ship. If you want to work on the systems layer that makes physical AI possible at scale, this is that team.

Own the design and execution of all networking systems on the core robot, working with our Cloud Infra and Apps teams to ensure we can scale robot operations end-to-end from fleet management to real-time VR teleop. This is critical-path work: as 1X scales from hundreds to tens of thousands of robots, the reliability, performance, and simplicity of networking is a critical piece of successful deployments. You will lead architecture decisions, build core components, and set technical standards for the team.

Key Outcomes:

• Own the core networking systems for robots and design topologies that maximize QoS for peer-to-peer, peer-to-server, and one-to-many.
• Design and implement load balancing strategies that maximize network utilization.
• Manage seamless connectivity across multiple networks (eg wifi, 5G)
• Build APIs & protocols that transmit multi-model data at scale, including high-bandwidth video

Key Competencies:

• Deep understanding of network topology design for peer-to-peer, peer-to-server, and one-to-many multicast
• Load balancing and resource management on both client and server
• Experience architecting systems that support network transitions and degraded connectivity
• Protocol design for high-bandwidth high-QoS multimodal payloads
• End-to-end system thinking across hardware, embedded, network stack, and cloud including QoS design (e.g. traffic classes, scheduling, and budgeting).
• Congestion control and bandwidth estimation for building an adaptive realtime stack.
• Measurement discipline: realistic network emulation, tail-latency analysis, and cross-host timings (PTP/NTP).

Minimum Requirements:

• 6+ years in network engineering, distributed systems, or related cloud infrastructure roles
• Proven experience shipping network systems in production at large scale
• Strong experience with network fundamentals including TCP/IP, UDP, and related video/audio protocols
• Experience with wireless network (wifi/5G) in mobile or embedded systems
• Shipping a realtime system over variable-bandwidth links.
• Proficient in C++

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, or other embedded realtime systems
• Experience with video transport protocols such as WebRTC or MoQ.
• Experience with edge computing or hybrid cloud/edge networking
• Experience with multi-radio systems

What does a successful 1X Team Member look like Team members at 1X who thrive here are builders. They move fast, own their work completely, and treat time like it's the one thing you can't get back - because it is. They say what they mean, finish what they start, and hold themselves to a standard before anyone has to ask. We push each other to be better, and we do it with honesty and respect.

$250,000 - $300,000 + Equity

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
• 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches

1X is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, disability, military or veteran status, justice system impact, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.