Staff C++ Engineer

About Forterra

At Forterra, we are unleashing autonomy at scale to transform the battlefield. Our mission is to build the foundational platforms that enable an intelligent ecosystem to coordinate, adapt, and execute with speed and precision even in the uncertainty and disruption of modern conflict. In an era marked by rapid technological change and evolving threats, we design for flexibility, survivability, and operational dominance.

Forterra delivers weapons, sensors, and battlefield effects through integrated autonomous networks reaching operational areas faster, safer, and without placing human lives at risk. Our systems operate with distributed control, dynamic routing, and real-time responsiveness, enabling sustained advantage across complex mission environments.

About the role

We are looking for talented C++ Software Engineers to join our Software Services Team. You will be integral in developing key components of the AutoDrive software platform, including middleware, configuration management, diagnostics, data replay, and system utilities. If you are passionate about working in a fast-paced, innovative environment and want to contribute to shaping the future of autonomous vehicles, we’d love to hear from you. 

What you'll do

• Develop, optimize, and maintain C and C++ software components for critical services such as middleware, configuration management, data logging, and diagnostic tools. 

• Work closely with autonomy engineers to design, implement, and integrate software services that support autonomous navigation, perception, and mission-level capabilities. 

• Build and maintain a robust data replay framework to facilitate regression testing and algorithm validation. 

• Create and support common utilities, such as logging and diagnostic message formats, to ensure a unified development experience across teams. 

• Implement and optimize performance-critical software components, ensuring minimal overhead and efficient resource usage. 

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (including autonomy, platform, and testing) to ensure smooth integration of new software components into the AutoDrive ecosystem. 

• Participate in code reviews, design discussions, and problem-solving sessions, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, maintainable software. 

• Develop and implement unit and integration tests for new and existing software components. 

• Troubleshoot, debug, and optimize complex software issues across multiple subsystems. 

Qualifications

• Strong experience in C++ programming, with a deep understanding of object-oriented design principles and memory management. 

• Ability to consistently deliver production-quality software in a continuously integrated environment. 

• Strong understanding of algorithms, data structures, and software design principles.  

• Demonstrates clean, maintainable code and documentation practices. 

• Solid understanding of multi-threaded programming, concurrency, and performance optimization techniques. 

• Experience with middleware frameworks and communication protocols (e.g., ROS, DDS, protobufs, or custom protocols or message serialization and deserialization). 

• Familiarity with configuration management systems, version control, and CI/CD pipelines. 

• Strong debugging and diagnostic skills with the ability to analyze and resolve complex software issues. 

• Experience with software testing (unit testing, integration testing, regression testing) and a commitment to ensuring software quality. 

• Experience with Linux-based development environments. 

• Experience working in teams and a willingness to proactively solve problems

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of real-time systems or embedded systems development. 

• Familiarity with data logging frameworks and visualization tools (e.g., Foxglove). 

• Experience with automated testing frameworks and tools for continuous integration. 

• Experience working in an Agile development environment. 

• Familiarity with the autonomous vehicle domain or robotics is a plus but not required. 

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, or a related field. 

• 7+ years of work experience in the software engineering field 

US Salary Range
 $145,000—$170,000
 

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterra’s overall compensation package. In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.  
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption. 
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires. 
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.  

CLEARANCE ELIGIBILITY - This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances: click here.   

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel practices. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain.  

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor, including veteran and disability status, and criminal history, in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Forterra is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.

To see Forterra’s candidate data privacy policy, please visit Forterra Legal | Job Applicant Privacy Notice. 

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