Senior Software Engineer - Energy Optimization
About the job
- A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
- Strong proficiency in Python and Linux.
- Experience building and shipping production software and/or internal developer tooling, such as services, pipelines, evaluation systems, or automation with real users.
- Experience using AI tools to build high-leverage engineering tooling and workflows.
- Experience with cloud and data technologies such as AWS, Spark, Airflow or Argo (or equivalent orchestration), Docker or Kubernetes, and CI/CD.
- Experience owning complex production software through design, implementation, debugging, and operation, where correctness, performance, and maintainability matter.
- Experience with another production language, such as C++, Go, Rust, Java, or C# is a plus.
- Experience with production systems that have real integration, reliability, or performance constraints is a plus.
- Experience with energy systems, on-device or firmware-adjacent environments, or machine learning is a plus.
- Implement and ship production changes in the Opticaster codebase, taking features and fixes from development through validation and release to the customer fleet.
- Build and improve internal tooling that accelerates Opticaster development and operations, including evaluation workflows, regression detection, experiment analysis, diagnostics, and automation.
- Apply AI tools to team workflows, including assisted analysis of simulation and fleet results, smarter evaluation loops, and automation that reduces repetitive debugging and review, with measurable productivity and quality gains.
- Own and evolve the software platforms around Opticaster, including simulation and benchmarking systems, cloud evaluation pipelines, monitoring and alerting, and release automation.
- Design and maintain production integration points with Tesla Energy firmware and Site Manager, including interfaces, signals, parsers and inputs, configuration, and version compatibility.
- Strengthen reliability and operability with monitoring, alerting, dashboards, and tooling that explain field or simulation behavior.
- Improve CI/CD and release automation so changes can be validated and shipped safely.
- Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks involving CPU, memory, latency, and runtime in services, pipelines, evaluation workloads, and constrained on-device or runtime paths.
- Partner with algorithm, firmware, and product engineers to turn energy-domain requirements into production-ready software, interfaces, and tooling.
About the company
Tesla makes electric cars and batteries that store power for homes and utilities, and it develops self-driving software and humanoid robots. In 2023, its Model Y became the first electric vehicle to rank as the world's best-selling car. Buyers order the Model 3 sedan, Model Y SUV, or Cybertruck pickup directly from Tesla instead of through dealers, and they charge on its Supercharger fast-charging network. It also sells Megapack and Powerwall batteries, runs a robotaxi service, and charges drivers a monthly fee for self-driving software that still needs their supervision. Tesla was founded in 2003, with Elon Musk as its lead early investor and a recognized co-founder, and it is based in Austin, Texas.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
Founded
2003
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Sales are growing again: revenue rose 26% to $28.2 billion in the June 2026 quarter, after falling 3% in 2025.
- Software adds income beyond cars: paid users of its supervised self-driving feature rose 56% to 1.48 million by June 2026.
- Hiring is back: Tesla's headcount grew 7% to 134,785 by December 2025, after layoffs shrank it 11% in 2024.
What critics are saying
- Growth isn't reaching profit: operating profit fell 57% to $398 million in the June 2026 quarter, a 1.4% margin.
- Alphabet's Waymo is far ahead in robotaxis: Texas records in May 2026 listed 577 Waymo vehicles to Tesla's 42.
- Stock grants have lost value: Tesla shares fell 17% in 2026 through October 8, after a December 2025 record.
What makes Tesla unique
- Energy storage punches above its weight: Tesla's energy unit made 13% of 2025 sales but 22% of gross profit.
- Tesla set the charging standard: Ford, GM and all major EV sellers in North America adopted its plug by 2024.
- Robots are written into Musk's pay: his 2025 award sets goals of 1 million humanoid robots and 1 million robotaxis.
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Benefits
Remote Work Options
Flexible Work Hours
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
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↓ -1%2 year growth
↓ -1%Tesla will show its Cybercab robotaxi at the Paris Motor Show on October 12, giving European audiences their first look at the vehicle. The Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals and is designed to run without a driver. Tesla has indicated a European rollout could come as early as 2027. Tesla shares were down about 16% in 2026 as of October 7, closing near $377.8. The stock trades at about 343 times trailing earnings. Second-quarter revenue rose 26% to $28.24 billion, but net income fell 5% to $1.11 billion. Capital expenditure is expected to exceed $25 billion this year. European approval for a vehicle without traditional driving controls could take time.
Tesla has dropped the "Full Self-Driving" name in Europe, replacing it with "Tesla Assisted Driving" across Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovakia. The change follows regulatory concerns that the original name was misleading, as the system requires constant supervision. Eight EU countries already permit the software, with Slovakia expected to become the ninth. A bloc-wide approval vote, initially scheduled for October, has been postponed to December whilst France conducts additional testing. Approval requires 15 of 27 member states representing 65% of the EU population. The region matters financially. Tesla's "Other Countries" segment, which includes Europe, generated $26.24 billion in 2025, down 10% from $29.02 billion in 2024. Nearly all of Tesla's 2025 revenue decline came from this region.
SpaceX's market value has reached approximately $2.27 trillion, nearly $800 billion more than Tesla's $1.49 trillion valuation, despite generating less than a quarter of Tesla's revenue. SpaceX brought in about $23 billion over its past four reported quarters compared to Tesla's $104 billion. The valuation gap reflects different growth trajectories. SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service has become highly profitable, earning around $5.3 billion in operating income with margins reaching 39%. The segment doubled its subscribers to 12 million over the past year. Tesla's profitability has declined, with operating margins falling from around 6% to just 1.4% in the second quarter. Its valuation relies on future autonomous vehicle and robotics businesses that aren't yet significant revenue sources. SpaceX's AI segment, including Grok and computing services, lost $3.7 billion in the first half of 2026, though losses are narrowing.
Pilot and Tesla have opened their first Megacharger site for heavy-duty electric trucks at a Pilot travel centre in Ellabell, Georgia. The location features six charging stalls, with three additional sites expected to open soon in California, Texas, and Nevada. The companies announced their collaboration in January 2026 to develop a network of Tesla Megachargers at select Pilot locations along major US freight corridors. Each site will feature four to eight high-power charging stalls using Tesla's V4 cabinet technology, capable of delivering up to 1.2 megawatts of power per stall. According to Tesla, a Tesla Semi can recover 60% of charge in 30 minutes at these stations. Twelve locations are currently under construction across California, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, and Texas.
Apple monetises AI through its high-margin Services business, whilst Tesla's heavy AI spending compressed earnings. Apple reported revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4%, with earnings per share of $2.02 beating estimates. Services runs at a 75.6% gross margin. Tesla's active full self-driving subscriptions rose 56% to 1.48 million, but earnings per share of $0.33 missed the $0.54 estimate. Operating margin shrank to 1.4%, and free cash flow fell to negative $1.09 billion. Capital expenditure is expected to exceed $25 billion. Apple bought back $25.8 billion of stock last quarter whilst increasing AI spending. Tesla pays no dividend and buys no stock. Apple shares are up 23% year to date, whilst Tesla fell 18%. Tesla trades at 346 times trailing earnings versus Apple's 38 times.