Senior Software Engineer

SWE GeneralistUnion City, CaThird Wave Automation is a rapidly growing startup that has demonstrated its core technology components, proven its market fit, and just closed its Series C funding. If you are excited about cutting edge machine learning, robotics that affects the real world, and want to join a company where your skills can have a huge impact, you'll fit right in.Third Wave Automation is applying modern machine learning to materials handling—delivering site-specific forklift navigation and infrastructure-free pallet handling that continuously adapts to changing floor configuration and warehouse demand.Third Wave Automation is looking for a strong SWE Generalist who is able to lead development of a major component of our Fleet Services codebase. We are currently transitioning one of our products into a massive scale-up (100–1000 units) in partnership with a world-leading forklift OEM and this will be an opportunity for Third Wave to invest in our core system and services that optimize the running of our fleets at customer sites.In this role, you will serve as a technical expert working with the other Software Engineers in Fleet Services as well as provide architectural and design oversight to interfacing with third party systems (WMS, WCS, other fleet/site management systems, etc.) as well our front end/operator interface and the fleets of forklifts our systems manage. Success in this role leverages a broad experience base of serve based compute/networking/deployment solutions with a strong "build it first' mentality. You will serve as a primary technical interface with our other lead SW and Robotics Engineers and also collaborate with the OEM partner's engineers.We empower our team with an AI-first engineering culture, leveraging LLMs and generative tools to accelerate the SDLC. As the TLM, you will champion this modern development stack to meet the rigorous expectations of a global industrial leader without sacrificing startup velocity. You are a "Systems-First" leader who can still jump into C++/Python code but spends your best cycles focusing on reliability enhancements, performance tuning, and the rigorous documentation required for a mature product.This role is a cornerstone of TWA's evolution from an R&D-focused startup to a premier product delivery company. You will leverage your broad experience in both server-based and robotic/hardware systems to drive successful delivery, helping TWA capture a billion-dollar market and delight customers at an unprecedented scale.How You Can Make an ImpactDrive the "Final Mile" of Productization: Lead the transition of core fleet service components from stable prototypes to high-availability, hardened production systems capable of supporting 24/7 operations.Architect Distributed Integrations: Oversee design and data pipelines connecting edge site infrastructure to cloud environments, ensuring robust real-time communication via low-latency protocols (WebSockets, MQTT, or gRPC).Champion Infrastructure Observability (SRE Mindset): Propose, design, and implement robust logging, telemetry, and monitoring code for our core infrastructure pieces. You will ensure the engineering team has full observability to proactively spot anomalies before they impact warehouse operations.Lead Advanced Diagnostics & Troubleshooting: Act as a premier technical investigator for deep-tier system issues. You will dive into complex edge failures across the hardware/software boundary, diagnose root causes, and propose permanent structural or code fixes.Master the C++ Core: Own, optimize, and harden performance-critical C++ components within the Fleet Services and edge software stacks. You will tackle complex concurrency, low-latency messaging, and resource constraints head-on.Scale with an AI-First Mindset: Actively use and champion generative AI tools (e.g., Gemini, Cursor) to streamline boilerplate development, optimize API testing, and accelerate overall feature velocity.Technical Guidance & Mentorship: Provide high-signal code reviews and technical mentorship to intermediate and junior engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and rigorous engineering standards.Minimum QualificationsExperience: 7–10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a proven track record of shipping scalable backend components or distributed systems.Production-Grade C++ Expertise: Deep, hands-on mastery of modern C++ (C++14/17/20) in a Linux environment. You have a stellar grasp of systems programming, memory management, and debugging multi-threaded applications.SRE & Systems Troubleshooting Acumen: Strong experience or a background in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) concepts. You are highly skilled at diagnosing distributed systems failures and building customized system monitoring/alerting infrastructure.Data & Messaging Mastery: Strong hands-on experience handling real-time data flows, message brokers (e.g., MQTT, gRPC, WebSockets), and relational/non-relational database management.Infrastructure & Tooling: High comfort level with Linux internals, shell scripting, Python, and containerized edge clusters (Docker, Kubernetes/K3s).AI Tooling Competency: Fluent with AI-assisted workflows to accelerate solution prototyping, test automation, and systems documentation.Communication: Exceptional collaborative communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to clarify technical trade-offs across product management and cross-functional teams.Preferred QualificationsPrior experience in robotics, IoT deployments, autonomous vehicles, or safety-critical industrial environments.Experience deploying and managing bare-metal software stacks at the network edge.Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related quantitative disciplineOur Core Values:Safety. We consider safety in everything we do.People. We care about our teammates as people.Encouragement. We encourage teaching, asking questions, and sharing opinions.Transparency. We are transparent and sincere in our actions.A robust set of benefits and perks:Comprehensive benefits. Health, Dental, Vision, and a 401k matching program, to boot!Flexible working schedule. Be productive when you work best.Show & Tell. We love to learn from one another, and see the cool stuff everyone is working on!Meals are covered. Lunch is provided every day, and dinner for those evenings that run long.Stacks of snacks. Donuts are a main food group, and the snack shelf is always stocked with a wide variety of items.Great teammates. One of the best parts of working here!We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We value each person's expertise and experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.All qualified applicants able to work in the United States are encouraged to apply. We are unable to sponsor H-1 visas subject to fees required by the 'Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers' Presidential Proclamation dated September 21, 2025.This job is based in Union City at least three days a week and offers no relocation assistance. The pay range for this position is $195,000 - $250,000/yr+ benefits+equity; however, base pay offered will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.