Principal Software Engineer - Robotics & Drones

Principal Software Engineer - Robotics & Drones

We are Aptiv - a global technology company with 200,000 specialists in 48 countries. We develop innovative software and build the hardware to bring autonomous driving cars, advanced driver-assistance systems, connected vehicles and smart cities to life in a way that only we can. We work in partnership with almost all car manufacturers. Our sensors, systems and software can already be found in almost all passenger cars today.

We are building a new Robotics business at Aptiv, focused on Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and Drones for warehouse, industrial, and adjacent markets. As a Robotics Principal Software Engineer, you will work closely with product management, hardware/SoC teams, and engineering partners to turn PoCs into scalable, reusable architectures that can be deployed across multiple customers and robot form factors.

We are seeking a Robotics Principal Software Engineer with deep expertise in radar signal processing tools, algorithm development, and cloud-based data processing, supporting advanced AMR and drone platforms. This role combines hands-on development of MATLAB-based radar analysis and algorithm pipelines (backed by GUI front-ends) with architectural ownership of Python-based, containerized radar data processing systems.  You will lead the design and technical direction of software systems that span radar and camera signal processing and perception algorithms, enabling scalable development and deployment into autonomy solutions.

Key Responsibilities:

Radar Signal Processing & Software Tool Development

• Architect and develop radar and camera signal processing tools, with a strong focus on raw data analysis, feature extraction, detection, tracking, and classification.
• Design and maintain MATLAB-based analysis and algorithm scripts, serving as the core computation engine behind GUI-driven engineering and validation tools.
• Collaborate with perception and algorithm teams to translate signal processing concepts into robust, testable, and reusable toolchains.
• Support algorithm prototyping in MATLAB and transition validated algorithms into Python and production robotics stacks where appropriate.
• Define data formats, processing pipelines, and performance requirements for radar-centric perception systems.

Architecture & System Design

• Support the end-to-end software architecture for radar-enabled AMR and drone platforms, from radar sensors and onboard processing to cloud-based analytics and data management.
• Support platform architecture using ROS 2, Linux, and real-time middleware, with clean separation between sensor processing, perception, and cloud services.
• Partition functionality across onboard compute, edge processing, and cloud infrastructure, balancing latency, bandwidth, cost, and scalability.
• Define and maintain clear APIs and interfaces between radar and camera processing modules, multi-sensor fusion, autonomy stacks, and cloud data services.
• Ensure architectural compliance with derived software requirements for performance, throughput, latency, and operating modes.
• Support development of cloud-based radar data processing infrastructure, supporting large-scale ingestion, storage, processing, and analysis of radar datasets.

Technical Leadership

• Lead architectural reviews and technical trade-offs across signal processing complexity, real-time constraints, cloud vs. edge processing, and compute acceleration.
• Provide technical direction to teams developing radar algorithms, perception stacks, tooling, and cloud services.
• Mentor engineers on best practices in signal processing software design, MATLAB-to-Python transitions, containerization, and cloud-native development.
• Work closely with embedded and compute teams to map radar workloads to CPU, GPU, DSP, or accelerator hardware.

Customer & Partner Engagement

• Translate customer and partner requirements into radar and camera centric system architectures and tool capabilities.
• Support proofs of concept and demos involving radar perception, analysis tools, and cloud analytics.
• Contribute to technology roadmaps and ecosystem strategy across radar and camera hardware, software, and cloud services.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of experience in robotics or embedded software development, with significant focus on radar and camera signal processing, perception systems, or sensing platforms.
• Proven experience developing radar and camera signal processing algorithms and analysis tools.
• Strong proficiency in MATLAB, including algorithm development, data visualization, and integration with GUI-based tools.
• Expert-level skills in Python, with experience building production-grade data processing and analysis systems.
• Strong experience with Docker, containerized workflows, and cloud-native development.
• Hands-on experience designing and deploying cloud infrastructures for data pipelines, analytics, or robotics backends.
• Solid understanding of ROS / ROS 2, Linux systems, and distributed middleware.
• Experience working with real-world sensing hardware (radar, lidar, vision, or similar).
• Strong software testing, debugging, and performance analysis skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to document and explain complex technical systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Deep experience with radar modalities, including FMCW radar signal processing, detection, tracking, and sensor fusion.
• Experience bridging MATLAB research code into Python or C++ production systems.
• Familiarity with multi-sensor fusion (radar + vision + lidar).
• Experience with cloud services for large-scale data ingestion, storage, analytics, and observability.
• Experience with heterogeneous compute platforms (GPU, DSP, NPU) for signal processing or ML workloads.
• Familiarity with simulation and data replay tools for sensor validation.
• Experience working in fast-paced or start-up environments with high ambiguity.

Traits we seek:

• Curiosity-driven problem solvers who investigate deeply and think systemically.
• Confident leaders who empower teams, set direction, and earn trust.
• Hands-on learners with an experimental, builder mindset.
• Resilient thinkers who see challenges as opportunities to learn and improve.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Salary Range: $170k - $200kAs a candidate for this position, your salary and will be contingent upon your work experience, education, skills and any other factors Aptiv considers relevant to the hiring decision.

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Aptiv is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.