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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Software Engineer - **Company:** Third Wave - **Location:** Union City, CA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $195,000.0 - $250,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Automation of Tests, C++ (Programming Language), Code Review, Cursor (Graphical User Interface Elements), Software Debugging, Linux, Distributed Systems, Memory Management, Monitoring of Systems, Python (Programming Language), Linux Kernel, Message Broker, Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), Reliability Engineering, Shell Script, Software Engineering, System Programming, Systems Integration, WebSocket, Data Logging, Multithreading, Cloud Platform System, Kubernetes, Information Technology, Bare Metal, Real Time Data, C++14, Grpc, Data Pipelines, Api Management, Docker - **Published:** September 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/senior-software-engineer-third-wave-automation-8705196 ## About the Role * Experience: 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., * Prior 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 discipline, 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. ## Description Third Wave Automation is looking for a strong Software Engineer 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., * Drive 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. ## Related Videos - [Docker network without Docker](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1418-docker-network-without-docker) - [Exploring the Power of gRPC-Gateway for Writing RESTful Services](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2072-exploring-the-power-of-grpc-gateway-for-writing-restful-services) - [The Software Engineer 2030: From Coder To AI Orchestrator? - Patrick Schnell](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1825-the-software-engineer-2030-from-coder-to-ai-orchestrator-patrick-schnell) - [Docker exec without Docker](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1094-docker-exec-without-docker) - [Boosting OpenSearch Performance: gRPC Search in Action](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1964-boosting-opensearch-performance-grpc-search-in-action) - [Shipping Faster with Less: Render on Cloud Hosting, AI Workloads, and the Future of DevOps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1894-shipping-faster-with-less-render-on-cloud-hosting-ai-workloads-and-the-future-of-devops) ## Related Articles - [Is Software Engineering Over-Saturated?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/418-is-software-engineering-over-saturated) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers) - [Are Software Engineer Wages Being Pushed Down? 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