Level

Scout AI

Robotics Software Engineer

Scout AI is hiring a Robotics Software Engineer in Sunnyvale, United States. It pays $145k-$220k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Scout AI.

Level's read on this job

  • Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this software engineer role: the job is building AI systems.
  • The posting mentions AI agents among its tools and skills.
  • Scout AI has 24 other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

ai-agents

The future of defense will be decided by those who field intelligent machines at scale. At Scout AI, we’re developing Fury, the first robotic foundation model for defense, to give U.S. forces overwhelming, adaptable, and autonomous power across every domain. Fury enables human operators to command fleets of robots through natural language, and empowers those machines to sense, decide, and act together as one. This mission will ask everything of us: urgency, precision, and relentless work.

The Role
We’re looking for a Robotics Software Engineer to design and build the software that powers intelligent robotic systems. You’ll work on perception, autonomy, control systems, and infrastructure that allow robots to operate reliably in complex environments. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving real-world problems at the intersection of robotics, AI, and scalable software systems. Your work will run on robots in complex, adversarial environments. Expect to move fast, test ideas aggressively, and break new ground as we create the first robotic foundation model for defense. We’re a startup. You’ll be moving fast, context-switching daily, and helping define the culture and process as we go. This is a rare opportunity to come in early and architect the future of defense.

Responsibilities

  • Design and deploy software for advanced drone hardware, promoting autonomous flight capabilities and delivery operations

  • Develop software for robotic perception, planning, and control

  • Develop dynamic memory, communication, and tool use faculties for AI agents

  • Build and maintain robotics infrastructure, simulation, and testing environments

  • Integrate sensors such as cameras, LiDAR, and IMUs into robotic systems

  • Implement and optimize algorithms for localization, mapping, and navigation

  • Work on autonomy pipelines from perception to action

  • Collaborate with hardware, AI, and product teams to ship robotic capabilities

  • Improve system reliability, performance, and real-world robustness

  • Contribute to deployment and monitoring of robotic systems in production environments

Qualifications

  • Strong programming skills in C++, Python, or similar languages

  • Experience developing robotics systems or autonomy software

  • Experience working with real-world robotics hardware or simulation environments

  • Strong debugging and system-level problem-solving skills

  • Ability to work across multiple layers of the robotics stack

  • Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities

  • Passion about defense of the United States and its allies

  • May be expected to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance

Why Join Scout

  • Work on the world’s most important frontier, ensuring U.S. and allied dominance in the age of intelligent machines

  • Be a core part of a team building the first defense-specific robotic foundation model

  • Collaborate with some of the top engineers in autonomy, AI, and national security

  • See your work deployed on real systems

  • Help define the future of intelligent defense systems

  • Backed by Draper Associates, Booz Allen Ventures, and other top investors

Benefits

  • Competitive Cash Compensation

  • Meaningful equity

  • Premium medical, dental, and vision plans with $0 paycheck contribution

  • Competitive PTO and company holiday calendar

  • Catered lunch daily and fully stocked kitchen

  • EV charging

  • Relocation assistance (depending on role eligibility)

How we rate this

Robotics Software Engineer at Scout AI rates 89 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

  1. ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
  2. ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
  3. ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
  4. ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

AI agents

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Pay

This job starts at
$145k
Typical software engineer job
$168k

This posting starts 14% below the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

  1. How do you decide when an AI agent can act on its own versus asking for approval first?
  2. How would you decide a model or AI system is ready to ship?
  3. Tell me about a time a model underperformed in production. How did you find out, and what did you change?

Adapt your resume

  • List these exact terms on your resume: AI agents. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
  • Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
  • Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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