Lead Software Engineer

About Origin

Origin is building general-purpose autonomous robots for US construction to tackle rising costs, safety risks, and labour shortages. Our modular, multi-trade platform combines purpose-built hardware with real-time site intelligence to navigate complex environments and execute tasks with precision. Trained in high-fidelity simulation and already deployed on live sites, our robots deliver 5x faster execution, 250%+ margin expansion, and significant cost savings. Join India’s most talent-dense robotics team consisting of individuals from IITs, Stanford, UCLA, and more.

About the Role

Origin Autonomy is looking for a versatile, hands-on software engineer to join our growing team. You will work across embedded Linux systems, networking stacks, robotic middleware, and cloud-connected services. This role demands strong fundamentals, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to learn quickly — not just familiarity with buzzwords.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement robot boot-up sequences and service orchestration to ensure reliable, deterministic system bring-up.
• Configure and manage Linux networking — TCP/IP stack, HTTP, iptables, ARP, DHCP, DNS —for robot-to-cloud and inter-robot communication.
• Own CI/CD pipelines using ArgoCD, GitHub Actions, and containerized workflows to ship software to robots.
• Manage Docker-based deployment and runtime environments on robot and cloud infrastruc ture.
• Write and maintain system administration tooling and bash scripts for fleet management and diagnostics.
• Collaborate closely with robotics, perception, and application teams to integrate platform capabilities.
• Establish and enforce best practices around Git workflows, branching strategies, and code review.
• Lead and mentor a small platform engineering team — set technical direction, conduct code reviews, and drive execution.

All candidates must demonstrate solid, hands-on competency in every item listed below.

• Linux systems programming in C
• File I/O — read, write, seek, memory-mapped files
• Multi-threading — pthreads, mutexes, condition variables, thread safety
• Socket communication — TCP/UDP sockets, select/poll/epoll
• Basic data structures & algorithms — stack, heap, queue, linked list
• General comprehension ability — reading technical manuals, datasheets, and RFCs; searching documentation independently
• Python scripting
• Bash scripting
• Git — CLI usage, branching, merging, rebasing, conflict resolution
• Standard UML diagrams — flowchart, sequence diagram, deployment diagram
• Windowless text editor — basic usability in at least one of: vim, nano, or equivalent (full proficiency not required)
  

Strong Advantage

Candidates with hands-on experience in the majority of the following areas will be strongly preferred.

• C++ programming — C++17, OOP, templates, STL
• Common network protocols — DHCP, ARP, TCP, UDP, DNS
• Network configuration — routers, switches, VLANs, subnetting
• Server–client application architecture — roles of back-end and front-end
• P2P vs. centralised communication — DDS vs. MQTT, trade-offs and use cases
• Database management — relational (SQL) vs. NoSQL, schema design, basic queries
• Network security — checksums (CRC, MD5, SHA), public-key encryption, digital signatures
• ROS2 framework — pub/sub, services, actions, lifecycle nodes, DDS transport
• CMake build system — targets, find_package, CTest integration
• Docker — writing Dockerfiles, docker-compose, remote image registry management

• Gain experience in a dynamic startup environment at the forefront of robotics and AI innovation.
• Contribute to the development of technology that will revolutionize the construction industry.
• Work alongside a talented and passionate team committed to making a real-world impact.
• Learn from experienced professionals and gain valuable skills in robotics software engineering.
• Gain practical experience in a real-world engineering environment.
• Contribute to a project with the potential to make a significant impact on the construction industry.