Serve Robotics is hiring a Robotics Software Engineer – Fault Detection & Recovery

At Serve Robotics, we're transforming urban mobility through innovative robotic solutions. Our compact sidewalk robot aims to revolutionize delivery systems by reducing street congestion, expanding service accessibility, and supporting local business ecosystems. The Serve autonomous fleet has been successfully engaging merchants, customers, and urban residents across major metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago through commercial delivery operations. We seek dynamic professionals committed to evolving robotic deliveries from emerging technology to mainstream infrastructure. We are seasoned technology professionals with extensive backgrounds in software, hardware, and design disciplines. Our collaborative team leverages advanced technologies like robotics, machine learning, and computer vision to address complex real-world challenges. We prioritize an inclusive, respectful approach to solving intricate dynamic problems through collective expertise. We're recruiting an accomplished Robotics Software Engineer to develop sophisticated fault detection, diagnosis, and recovery mechanisms for autonomous robotic platforms. This role involves creating frameworks and behavioral protocols enabling robots to identify failures, adapt to compromised conditions, and execute safe recovery procedures across autonomy, controls, and systems domains. Responsibilities: - Design and implement fault detection and recovery frameworks across autonomy and control components - Lead Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) activities and translate findings into actionable software mechanisms - Develop health monitoring and diagnostics systems to assess real-time component and subsystem performance - Implement state management and recovery logic for scenarios like sensor degradation, controller faults, and odometry resets - Define and execute degradation-aware behaviors to ensure safe operation under partial system failures - Establish end-to-end performance and latency monitoring to support fault-tolerant autonomy - Contribute to ODD (Operational Design Domain) detection and management, ensuring appropriate system response to environmental changes Qualifications: - 3+ years of experience in robotics or autonomous systems software development - Strong proficiency in C++ and Python, with experience in real-time and distributed systems - Solid understanding of autonomy architectures, including perception, planning, localization and control pipelines - Hands-on experience with ROS/ROS2 or similar robotic middleware - Familiarity with fault-tolerant design, FMEA, diagnostics, or reliability engineering - Proven ability to collaborate across software and hardware teams to deliver resilient robotic systems What Makes You Stand Out: - Background in autonomous vehicles, mobile robotics, or field robotics - Experience with system telemetry, health monitoring, and data-driven validation - Knowledge of state machines, behavior trees, or similar frameworks for failure management - Understanding of SOTIF or related safety frameworks - Exposure to machine learning or analytics for anomaly and fault detection * Please note: The base salary range listed in this job description reflects compensation for candidates based in the San Francisco Bay Area. While we prefer candidates located in the Bay Area, we are also open to qualified talent working remotely across the United States. Base salary range (U.S. – all locations): $140k - $165k USD Base salary range (Canada - all locations): $118k - $135k CAD Compensation Range: $170K - $200K