Senior Software Engineer (Backend), Research Enablement

Build the Path Forward At Path Robotics, we’re building the future of embodied intelligence. Our AI-driven systems enable robots to adapt, learn, and perform in the real world closing the skilled labor gap and transforming industries. We go beyond traditional methods, combining perception, reasoning, and control to deliver field-ready AI that is risk-aware, reliable, and continuously improving through real-world use. Big, hard problems are our everyday work, and our team of intelligent, humble, and driven people make the impossible possible together. We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to be the architect and caretaker of our codebase, building the systems and tools that make it easy for our ML, CV, and robotics engineers to explore ideas and turn them into production-grade solutions. You’ll work closely with our research teams and our data platform team — leveraging their data and ML infrastructure expertise — while focusing on creating a robust, scalable, and developer-friendly foundation. What You’ll Do Architect production-grade Python systems that make experimentation, prototyping, and deployment fast, reliable, and low-friction for research teams. Lead engineering best practices around code quality, testing, modularity, and documentation to keep our codebase clean and maintainable. Build internal tooling, APIs, and libraries that abstract away infrastructure complexity so researchers can focus on solving ML, CV, and robotics problems. Collaborate with the data platform team to integrate data processing, training, and inference capabilities — without owning those pipelines end-to-end. Design CI/CD workflows for research-heavy Python projects to ensure smooth transition from prototype to production. Integrate team’s ML/CV code into the company’s C++/ROS codebase. Act as the technical lead within the research team, making key engineering decisions and mentoring others in writing high-quality, maintainable code. Who You Are Strong background in software architecture and large-scale Python development Have experience building developer tools, frameworks, or platforms for technical teams. Proven experience with cloud-based development, including designing and managing data storage, persistence, and secure access in cloud environments; deploying ML workloads in AWS and/or Azure; and integrating on-premises infrastructure with cloud services. Understand ML/CV/robotics workflows well enough to support them — but your superpower is building great software, not tuning models. Thrive in collaborative environments where you’re a bridge between research and production. Team Player: Startup Energizer: The idea of joining a growing venture-backed startup excites you because you know your work will have an immediate and significant impact. Collaboration Champion: You thrive in a collaborative environment, working closely with others to achieve common goals and drive success. Mentorship Minded: You are passionate about helping peers, fostering best practices, and promoting continuous improvement within the team. Quality Advocate: You are dedicated to maintaining high standards of quality, shipping reliable and high-quality code that you can be proud of, knowing that good quality also enables fast delivery. Why You'll Love It Here Free lunch every day Flexible PTO Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance 6 weeks 100% paid parental leave plus an additional 6-8 weeks maternity leave for the birthing parent (12-14 weeks total) 401K through Empower Paid Referral Bonus Who We Are At Path Robotics we love coming to work to solve interesting and tough challenges but also because our ideas are welcomed and valued. We encourage unique thinking and are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.