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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Senior Principal Systems Engineer - **Company:** Cerence Inc. - **Location:** Monte Sereno, CA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $192,500.0 - $290,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Business Logic, Computing Platforms, Systems Engineering, C++ (Programming Language), Ubuntu (Operating System), Computer Programming, Debian Linux, Linux, Middleware, FreeRTOS, Hardware Design, Python (Programming Language), Motion Planning, Software Architecture, Real-Time Operating Systems, Cyber-physical Systems, Sensor Fusion, Software Engineering, Systems Architecture, Systems Integration, AI Infrastructure, Robot Operating System, PIC Microcontroller, Large Language Models, Agentic-AI, Isaac Sim, Containerization, Information Technology, Multiaccess Edge Computing - **Published:** October 27, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/senior-principal-systems-engineer-austin-tx--f8ab5c87-9ce1-4edb-8f5d-14a568bb1f4a ## About the Role Mandatory (Must Have) * Robotics Domains: Understanding of ROS 2, Navigation & Localization (SLAM, Nav2), Manipulation & Motion Planning (MoveIt2), Perception Pipelines, Sensor Fusion, Robot Middleware, DDS communication, and distributed robotics architectures. * Systems Engineering: Proven experience designing cyber-physical systems operating under compute limitations, thermal constraints, battery optimization, network intermittency, and fail-safe operational requirements. * Programming: Knowledge of advanced C++ (17/20) and expertise in Python architectural design. * Operating Systems: Mastery of Linux (Ubuntu/Debian), containerized deployments, and embedded computing platforms. * Experience: 8+ years in robotics, autonomous systems, industrial automation, physical AI, or complex cyber-physical environments. Good to Have (Highly Valued Plus) * Real-Time Linux: PREEMPT_RT and deterministic kernel environments. * Microcontroller RTOS: Zephyr RTOS, FreeRTOS or low-level embedded control platforms. * Developer SDKs & Simulation: NVIDIA Isaac SDK, Isaac Sim, Omniverse, Gazebo, Webots, Intel RealSense. * Safety & Compliance: ISO 13849, IEC 61508, IEC 62443 and Human-Robot Interaction safety requirements. * AI & Foundation Models: Experience integrating LLMs, VLMs, agentic workflows, multimodal reasoning and edge AI inference platforms. * Leadership: Experience leading technical projects or small cross-functional teams in startup, R&D, robotics, or fast-paced product development environments., * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline. ## Description The Senior Principal Systems Engineer owns the end-to-end systems design for our humanoid robot applications, spanning software, AI, and hardware integration. You will bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI, robotic operating systems, and physical hardware. In this role, you will drive critical technical decisions, manage physical system constraints, and guide robotics engineers and AI/ML scientists while staying hands-on in a lean, startup-style setup. Your Impact * Own the end-to-end system design for humanoid robot applications. * Define reusable software platforms spanning robotics, AI, voice, cloud, and edge systems. * Lead technical decisions involving robotics frameworks, operating systems, SDKs, AI infrastructure, and deployment architectures. * Guide proof-of-concepts into production-ready customer deployments. * Collaborate with robotics OEMs, technology partners, and cross-functional engineering teams. Key Responsibilities * System Architecture: Design scalable, modular software architectures for humanoid robot applications. * Tech Stack Selection: Evaluate and select robotic software frameworks and developer SDKs. * Hardware-Software Co-design: Collaborate closely with mechanical and electrical teams to optimize system latency, compute allocation, thermal envelopes, battery utilization, and power budgets. * Platform Reuse: Drive a platform strategy enabling modular reuse of application logic across different physical robot forms. * AI & Agentic Systems: Define how foundation models, agentic orchestration frameworks, memory systems, multimodal AI, and reasoning engines integrate into robot applications. * Production Readiness: Ensure deployed solutions meet reliability, observability, maintainability, security, and operational requirements. * Project Leadership: Lead the project end to end in a lean, fast-moving startup environment, working closely with robotics engineers and AI/ML scientists., All prospective and current Employees need to remain vigilant when it comes to executing security policies in the workplace. This includes: - Following workplace security protocols and training programs to familiarize with the ways to maintain a safe workplace. - Following security procedures to report any suspicious activity. - Having respect for corporate security procedures to allow those procedures to be effective. - Adhering to company's compliance and regulations. - Encouraging to follow a zero tolerance for workplace violence.