Senior Software Lead

Role Summary

idle Robotics is a Bengaluru-based deep-tech startup building the foundational spatial intelligence layer for autonomous systems, spanning GPS-denied navigation for UAVs and UGVs, as well as industrial automation.

We are looking for a hands-on Senior Robotics Software Engineer / Lead to take end-to-end ownership of our robotics software stack and help transform research prototypes into robust, reliable, and field-deployable products.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End System Architecture: Design, maintain, and scale modular software architectures spanning sensing, perception, localisation, planning, and control for real-world autonomous systems.

• Prototype-to-Product Engineering: Transform experimental and research code into robust, maintainable, and deployable software through sound engineering practices, automated testing, CI/CD, and appropriate reliability and failure-handling mechanisms.

• Perception & Navigation Leadership: Guide the development and integration of Visual Odometry (VO), Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO), SLAM, sensor fusion, and deep-learning-based perception systems.

• Edge Optimisation: Deploy and optimise robotics algorithms across heterogeneous compute platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson and ARM SoCs, balancing real-time latency, CPU/GPU utilisation, memory, power, and thermal constraints.

• Hardware Integration & Field Debugging: Bridge the hardware-software boundary through sensor integration and calibration, hands-on outdoor testing, systematic root-cause analysis, and field-level debugging and recovery.

• Technical Team Leadership: Provide technical direction to a multidisciplinary team spanning Computer Vision, Embedded, Systems, and Testing, while remaining actively hands-on with C++ and Python development.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience & Domain: 4-10 years of experience in robotics/autonomous systems software, with a proven track record of deploying mobile robots in real-world environments.

• Core Software: Strong proficiency in C++ and Python; solid Linux development, Git, and build-system experience, including CMake.

• Robotics Middleware: Strong hands-on experience with ROS/ROS2; familiarity with PX4, ArduPilot, or MAVLink is highly desirable.

• Algorithms & AI: Practical experience with SLAM, VIO/VO, sensor fusion, 3D geometry, OpenCV, and deep-learning frameworks such as PyTorch.

• Edge Computing: Experience deploying and optimising robotics workloads on NVIDIA Jetson or ARM-based platforms; familiarity with CUDA, TensorRT, ONNX, and performance profiling is desirable.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience leading and mentoring a multidisciplinary engineering team of engineers, with responsibility for technical direction, execution, and delivery.

• Experience with GPS-denied or GPS-degraded navigation.

• Experience with UAVs, UGVs, AMRs, or other autonomous mobile platforms.

• Experience with distributed robotics systems.

• Strong background in computer vision, 3D perception, or state estimation.

• Experience with factor graphs, Kalman filtering, or other probabilistic estimation techniques.

• Experience with embedded Linux and hardware-software integration.

• Experience with production deployment, fleet maintenance, OTA updates, or automated system testing.

• Prior experience in a deep-tech startup or aerospace/defence environment.

What We Value

• Systems thinkers: Engineers who look beyond the code and understand the physical realities of robotic systems including calibration, vibration, timing, latency, compute, power, and thermal constraints.

• Product-oriented engineers: People who know how to move beyond a working prototype and build software that is reliable, maintainable, testable, and deployable.

• High-ownership mindset: Someone comfortable making pragmatic architectural decisions, working through ambiguity, and taking responsibility for system-level outcomes.

• Hands-on problem solvers: Engineers who are comfortable moving between code, hardware, algorithms, logs, and field testing to identify and solve difficult problems.

• Real-world robotics experience: Direct experience deploying and maintaining autonomous systems in challenging outdoor, industrial, aerospace, or defence environments is highly valued.