Senior Software Engineer: Platform Software - Operating Systems and Vehicle Configuration - Zoox

Job Title: Senior Software Engineer: Platform Software - Operating Systems and Vehicle Configuration
Job Location: Foster City, CA
Job Listing URL: https://jobs.lever.co/zoox/15cda275-8325-4697-87a6-690cf48f7f98
Job Description: Zoox's Robot Software Infrastructure team is seeking a passionate software engineer to advance the platform software powering multiple devices in our autonomous vehicles. This team develops platform-level software, including operating systems that enable the execution of complex, hardware-accelerated workloads critical for autonomous driving on automotive-grade hardware. We work closely with cross-functional teams, collaborating with developers, release management, and operations teams to support vehicle development and deployment at scale.

Example challenges:
How does a vehicle know what to do when it wakes up?
How can a vehicle fleet determine which software to install or update for a ride-share 24/7 mission?

Our team tackles these challenges by designing and building runtime configuration systems and tools to ensure seamless operation and updates across the entire vehicle fleet. If you’re passionate about solving complex problems and have a strong sense of how components fit into a broader robotaxi ecosystem, this is the team for you!
In this role, you’ll join a growing team that is responsible for:
Developing and maintaining Zoox custom operating system
Kernel selection, configuration, and device driver updates including GPU drivers
Development of system services, operating system build tools, and installation tools
Managing the software build and authorization systems
Designing and developing in-field update mechanisms and operating system validation plans
Implementing of OS security features
Defining modes and mechanisms to audit and control software and hardware configurations at run-time
Enabling adaptive runtime behavior for various scenarios
Managing hardware-in-the-loop continuous integration (HIL and CI) infrastructure
Qualifications
Solid understanding of operating system internals
Strong experience in Linux, build systems like Yocto, and bootloaders like U-Boot, Linux init systems (e.g., systemd), Linux containerization (e.g., chroot, cgroups, namespaces), filesystems, networking, build systems, and device drivers
Strong understanding of networking fundamentals and client & server model
Expertise in device drivers and kernel-space code
Experience with software build and update systems
Experience in designing architectures for large, complex software systems
Proven track record in delivering production systems and software applications
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Proficiency in languages like C or C++ (without automatic memory management) and scripting languages like Bash or Python
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience
Bonus Qualifications
Familiarity with security software: PKI, secure boot, hardware key storage, etc.
Expertise in GPU hardware and software architecture
Experience with robotics or autonomous driving technologies
Graduate degree in computer science or closely related field