Lead Software Engineer, AI & Robotics Test Infrastructure

Lead Software Engineer, AI & Robotics Test Infrastructure Milpitas, CA RoboForce is an AI robotics company developing Physical AI–powered Robo-Labor for dull, dirty, and dangerous work. The company's robots are engineered for demanding industrial environments, with a focus on real-world deployment and scalability. We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer, Robotics Test Infrastructure to architect the overarching validation framework for our robot fleet from the ground up. This is a massive-scope, highly hands-on Technical Lead / Principal Individual Contributor (IC) role. You will act as the principal technical authority and central hub connecting our software, embedded, simulation, machine learning, and manufacturing teams. You will design and build the core test execution software that orchestrates End-to-End (E2E) simulation runs, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) physical testing, ML model regression pipelines, and End-of-Line (EOL) factory validation. At RoboForce, Test Engineers aren't manual testers—you build the scalable infrastructure, automation engines, and CI/CD pipelines that empower all our engineering disciplines to test their code continuously, rigorously, and automatically. Responsibilities Test Framework Architecture: Design, build, and maintain a modular, scalable test execution engine (Python/C++) that standardizes how tests are written, triggered, and reported across the entire company. You will own the technical roadmap for this framework, moving us from zero to a fully automated pipeline. ML Evaluation Infrastructure: Partner with the Autonomy and AI teams to build automated pipelines for testing non-deterministic machine learning models (e.g., vision, perception, manipulation). You will integrate massive datasets and synthetic simulation edge-cases into the CI/CD pipeline to benchmark model performance and catch regressions before deployment. E2E & Simulation Orchestration: Collaborate closely with the Simulation and Cloud teams to integrate your test framework with our existing physics engines, automating complex E2E autonomy and navigation tests within our CI/CD pipeline. HIL & Performance Testing Infrastructure: Work with the Embedded and Hardware teams to build the software layer that controls our Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) rigs. Develop the profiling tools needed to benchmark compute load, memory utilization, and real-time performance. EOL Test Software & Packaging: Partner with Manufacturing Operations to package your test framework into a secure, operator-friendly format (e.g., GUIs, automated pass/fail scripts) for the factory floor, ensuring seamless, IP-isolated hardware validation. Design for Testability (DFT) & Enforcement: Actively participate in cross-functional design reviews, enforcing strict testing standards and ensuring that code from the Autonomy and Embedded teams is inherently testable within your framework. You will have the technical authority to push back on tightly coupled designs and require code to be easily mocked and unit-tested. Technical Leadership: Act as a force multiplier for the engineering org. Mentor feature developers on automated testing best practices and drive a company-wide culture of rigorous, software-defined validation. (Note: This is a hands-on technical leadership role, not a people management role). Requirements Education: B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or equivalent practical experience. Experience: 6+ years of software engineering experience focused on building test infrastructure, automation frameworks, or CI/CD tooling for complex systems (robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, etc.), with a proven track record of architecting systems from scratch rather than just maintaining existing pipelines. Advanced Programming: Expert-level Python (OOP, system architecture, test frameworks like Pytest) and strong C++ proficiency (Google Test, Catch2) to design core architectural interfaces with our robotics middleware. Systems & CI/CD Integration: Deep comfort in Linux environments, bash scripting, and containerization (Docker). Proven experience integrating automated testing into modern CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Buildkite). Hardware Intuition: Strong systems-level thinking with the ability to understand how software interacts with physical hardware, and experience diagnosing complex integration failures at the boundary of software and physical robotics. Testing Non-Deterministic Systems: Familiarity with the unique challenges of testing AI/ML models, robotics perception stacks, or other non-deterministic systems at scale. Requires 5 days/week in-office collaboration with our engineering teams at our headquarters. Bonus Qualifications Robotics Middleware: Experience writing testing infrastructure that interfaces with ROS 2, eCAL, or custom pub/sub architectures. Data Visualization: Experience building test reporting dashboards using tools like Grafana, Foxglove, or custom web interfaces. Benefits Competitive stock options/equity programs. Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) plan. Visa sponsorship and green card support for qualified candidates. Lunches and dinners, a fully stocked kitchen, and regular team-building events. Compensation: Salary $165,000–$235,000 USD + Bonus + Equity The base salary range above represents the expected compensation for this full-time U.S. position. Final compensation will be determined based on role scope, level, location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training, and may fall outside the listed range in exceptional cases. roboforce