Full-Time

Senior Staff Engineer

Robotics

BrightAI

BrightAI

51-200 employees

AI-powered proactive asset monitoring for infrastructure

No salary listed

Palo Alto, CA, USA

In Person

On-site role based in Palo Alto, California.

Bachelor's, Master's

Category
Mechanical Engineering
Required Skills
Bash
Python
Git
C/C++
DevOps
OpenCV
Computer Vision

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Requirements
  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
  • 6+ years of experience developing robotics systems, with at least 2 years in a leadership role
  • Experience in Embedded Linux development
  • Expert-level knowledge of ROS / ROS2 and simulation environments
  • Perception & Computer Vision (OpenCV, PCL, Object Detection, Segmentation)
  • Localization & Mapping (SLAM, Kalman Filters, state estimation)
  • Navigation & Motion Planning (A*, Dijkstra, MPC, trajectory optimization)
  • Controls & Kinematics (PID, forward/inverse kinematics)
  • Command of C/C++, with working knowledge of Python, Bash, or other scripting languages
  • Understanding of embedded system constraints and optimization techniques for performance and memory
  • Comfortable with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative development workflows
  • Experience working with cross-functional teams across hardware, software, and systems engineering
  • Excellent communication, documentation, and team leadership skills
Responsibilities
  • Own the end-to-end technical architecture of the robotic system, ensuring seamless integration between hardware (sensors, actuators) and software (ROS/ROS2, perception, navigation, control)
  • Partner with Product Managers and Engineering management to define the technical roadmap, breaking down complex product requirements into executable engineering milestones
  • Enforce high standards for code quality, safety-critical systems, and architectural integrity through rigorous design and code reviews
  • Lead the evaluation of new technologies, sensors (LiDAR, cameras, IMUs), and algorithms to keep the company at the forefront of the robotics industry
  • Lead the design and development of edge-based systems, from initial concept through production
  • Collaborate closely with the product team to drive technical development
  • Must have an excellent demeanor engaging customers. Provide a pleasant working experience externally and internally to the organization. This position is customer facing.
  • Collaborate with stakeholders across hardware, software, AI, and product teams to bring reliable, autonomous robotics to market
  • Be capable of translating business/product requirements into technical requirements. Understand and adjust product requirements to align with best technical practices.
  • Drive the internal development and report technical status internally and externally.
  • Guide the integration of embedded software with custom hardware, ensuring stable and scalable solutions
  • Drive the overall technical roadmap, ensuring alignment across software, firmware, hardware, and cloud integration
  • Provide technical leadership to cross-functional teams and mentor engineers in embedded systems design and debugging
  • Work closely with electrical and hardware engineers to ensure seamless hardware-software integration and platform bring-up
  • Strong background in kinematics, sensing, and motion control.
  • Stay hands-on with code and systems-level debugging when needed, especially during early bring-up and troubleshooting phases
  • Establish and maintain documentation, development processes, and tools to support embedded platform stability and scalability
  • Contribute to hiring and team growth through mentoring, technical interviews, and strategic planning
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience integrating AI/ML workloads on embedded Linux platforms
  • Knowledge of real-time operating systems (RTOS) and hybrid RTOS/Linux environments
  • Experience with secure provisioning and OTA updates for Linux-based devices
  • Familiarity with containerized workloads on embedded Linux (e.g., Docker, Balena)
  • Exposure to cloud connectivity for edge devices (AWS IoT, Azure IoT, MQTT, etc.)

BrightAI provides an AI and IoT platform, Stateful, that monitors critical infrastructure in real time and manages assets proactively. It collects data from sensors, drones, and robotics, and uses multimodal AI to detect issues, predict failures, and deliver actionable insights to field teams. The system can retrofit legacy infrastructure, enabling large service companies to modernize without replacing systems, with asset visibility, wearables, and autonomous inspections supported by edge computing. BrightAI targets utilities, water, HVAC, and manufacturing customers, aiming to shift infrastructure management from reactive to proactive and create high switching costs through an integrated hardware-software stack.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$66M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2019

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • July 2025 Series A from Khosla and Inspired Capital validates physical AI infrastructure demand.
  • Pelsis expanded Gen 2 deployments across food and pharma after successful pilot.
  • Total funding reached $78 million, supporting hiring, headquarters expansion, and commercial rollout.

What critics are saying

  • Pelsis remains the clearest proof point; one thin vertical risks overconcentration by 2026.
  • BrightAI’s $300 million valuation demands rapid enterprise scale; missed deployments crush follow-on financing.
  • Competitors can bundle similar monitoring into utilities software, compressing pricing and margins quickly.

What makes BrightAI unique

  • Alex Hawkinson’s SmartThings background gives BrightAI rare IoT-to-enterprise infrastructure credibility.
  • Stateful combines sensors, edge computing, and multimodal AI for retrofitting legacy assets.
  • Pelsis adoption shows BrightAI can embed software into existing industrial hardware.

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Benefits

Remote Work Options

Flexible Work Hours

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-3%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

-5%
Consensus Digital Media
Sep 6th, 2025
BrightAI Raises $51M for AI Infrastructure

BrightAI, a San Francisco-based startup, raised a $51 million Series A round led by Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital, valuing the company at around $300 million. The company, founded by Alex Hawkinson, uses AI for infrastructure maintenance tasks like pest control and power pole inspections. BrightAI's platform, Stateful, employs custom semiconductors and AI models. The startup has raised a total of $78 million.

The AI Insider
Jul 21st, 2025
BrightAI Closes $51M in Funding from Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital to Bring Physical AI to the World's Essential Services

BrightAI closes $51M in funding from Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital to bring Physical AI to the world's essential services.

FinSMEs
Jul 20th, 2025
BrightAI Raises $51M in Series A Funding

BrightAI, a San Francisco, CA-based company bringing AI into the physical world to power smarter, more resilient infrastructure, raised $51m in Series A funding

SiliconANGLE Media
Jul 18th, 2025
BrightAI raises $51M to ease infrastructure maintenance with AI

BrightAI Inc., a startup using artificial intelligence to help companies maintain physical assets, today announced that it has closed a $51 million funding round.

VCNewsDaily
Jul 18th, 2025
BrightAI Secures $51M in Series A

BrightAI announced a $51 million Series A funding round to enhance its AI-driven infrastructure solutions.