Staff Software Engineer - Backend

Based in Mountain View, CA, Cyngn is a publicly-traded autonomous technology company. We deploy self-driving industrial vehicles - specifically autonomous tuggers - to factories, warehouses, and other facilities throughout North America. To build this emergent technology, we are looking for innovative, motivated, and experienced leaders to join us and move this field forward. If you like to build, tinker, and create with a team of trusted and passionate colleagues, then Cyngn is the place for you. Key reasons to join Cyngn:

We are small and big.

With under 100 employees, Cyngn operates with the energy of a startup. On the other hand, we’re publicly traded. This means our employees not only work in close-knit teams with mentorship from company leaders—they also get access to the liquidity of our publicly-traded equity.

We build today and deploy tomorrow.

Our autonomous vehicles aren’t just test concepts—they’re deployed to real clients right now. That means your work will have a tangible, visible impact.

We aren’t robots. We just develop them.

We’re a welcoming, diverse team of sharp thinkers and kind humans. Collaboration and trust drive our creative environment. At Cyngn, everyone’s perspective matters—and that’s what powers our innovation.

About the role

• As the Staff Software Engineer for our SaaS platform team, you will be crucial in developing Cyngn's cutting-edge fleet management system for autonomous industrial vehicles. You'll collaborate with product and engineering teams to design, implement, deploy, and maintain a robust cloud-based solution that enables real-time control and monitoring of autonomous vehicles in the field. Your expertise will be instrumental in creating a scalable, high-performance system that empowers our customers to optimize their automated workflows and maximize operational efficiency.

What you'll do

• Architect and lead the development of a sophisticated, cloud-native fleet management system capable of real-time control and monitoring of numerous autonomous vehicles
• Design and implement scalable, distributed systems that can handle high-volume, real-time data processing and decision-making
• Develop robust APIs and microservices to support integration with various autonomous vehicle platforms and customer systems
• Create efficient algorithms for route optimization, task scheduling, and resource allocation across vehicle fleets
• Implement advanced data analytics and machine learning capabilities to provide predictive maintenance, performance optimization, and business intelligence features
• Ensure system reliability, security, and compliance with industry standards and regulations
• Lead a team of skilled engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, code quality, and continuous improvement
• Collaborate with product managers, UX designers, and customers to translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Engage with customers to understand their needs and translate them into technical requirements
• Mentor junior developers and contribute to the technical growth of the engineering team
• Participate in the entire software development lifecycle, from concept and design to testing, deployment, and maintenance

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software development experience, with a strong focus on backend systems and distributed architectures
• Extensive experience in building and scaling cloud-native SaaS platforms, preferably in the IoT or robotics domains
• Expert-level proficiency in at least one of Python, Go, Java, or C++, with working knowledge of others
• Deep understanding of cloud technologies and services (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Proven experience with event-driven architectures and message queuing systems (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ, Apache Pulsar)
• Strong background in database design and optimization, including both SQL and NoSQL solutions
• Proficiency in developing scalable WebSocket-based real-time communication systems
• Expertise in developing real-time data processing pipelines and analytics systems
• Proficiency with containerization and orchestration technologies (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD practices (e.g., Terraform, GitOps)
• Track record of leading development teams and mentoring junior developers
• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to optimize complex systems
• Strong collaboration skills with a low ego
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with IoT platforms, robotics frameworks (e.g., ROS), or autonomous vehicle technologies
• Solid understanding of network protocols and communication standards relevant to IoT and autonomous systems
• Knowledge of AMQP, MQTT, DDS, or other IoT-specific communication protocols
• Experience with time-series databases (e.g., InfluxDB, TimescaleDB) for handling large volumes of sensor data
• Familiarity with edge computing and fog architectures
• Experience with real-time operating systems and embedded software development
• Expertise in building and maintaining scalable API platforms
• Experience with geospatial data processing and mapping technologies
• Experience with simulation environments for autonomous systems testing
• Knowledge of fleet management software and vehicle telematics systems
• Health benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA and FSA (Health & Dependent Daycare), Employee Assistance Program, 1:1 Health Concierge)
• Life, Short-term and long-term disability insurance (Cyngn funds 100% of premiums)
• Company 401(k)
• Flexible vacation policy
• Remote or hybrid work opportunities
• Sabbatical leave opportunity after 5 years with the company
• Daily lunches for in-office employees and fully-stocked kitchen with snacks and beverages
• Monthly meal and tech allowances for remote employees

What You Can Expect (Cyngn’s interview process)

• A real person will review your application
• We’ll kick off the process with a video assessment where you’ll share a little more about yourself and we’ll get some basic questions out of the way
• A Recruiter touch point will go over the process in more detail and answer your questions
• A 45-minute interview with the hiring manager
• A full-loop interview process consisting of 3-4 additional conversations to gauge technical and soft skills and culture fit.
• A final onsite interview with the team.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.