Staff Software Engineer - Platform

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond. We operate at the cutting edge of embodied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better. JOB SUMMARY As a Staff Platform Engineer, you will define the technical strategy for how our robotics software is built, packaged, and delivered — from a developer's laptop to a walking humanoid robot. You will own the vision and architecture for our C++ build platform, transforming it into a world-class system that scales with a growing engineering organization and an increasingly complex hardware portfolio. This role goes beyond building great infrastructure — it requires driving alignment across software, robotics, and embedded teams, shaping engineering culture around build reliability and developer velocity, and ensuring that platform investments are tightly coupled to company-wide program milestones. You'll be the technical authority on build systems and developer tooling, operating as a force multiplier that makes every engineer at Apptronik faster and more effective. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES Define and own the long-term technical roadmap for the C++ build platform, aligning infrastructure investments with software program timelines and organizational growth Architect scalable build infrastructure — including remote caching, remote execution, and cross-compilation for x86, ARM, and Jetson targets — and drive strategic technology decisions through RFCs that gain cross-team alignment Set the standards for hermetic, reproducible builds and artifact provenance that become the engineering-wide default Own high-performance build environments and the end-to-end artifact lifecycle — from build output through packaging, versioning, and delivery to physical robots Architect and optimize CI/CD pipelines at scale; instrument build health metrics and establish SLOs for build performance, CI reliability, and developer iteration speed Manage the C++ dependency ecosystem, balancing developer flexibility with reproducibility and long-term maintainability Partner with engineering leadership to shape the developer productivity roadmap and advocate for sustained investment in platform infrastructure Drive cross-team initiatives to consolidate fragmented build patterns, eliminate toil, and resolve systemic productivity problems that span team boundaries Mentor engineers across the organization on build best practices, acting as the go-to technical authority for build systems and developer infrastructure Serve as the escalation point for complex, cross-domain issues spanning application code, build systems, containerization, and infrastructure SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS Deep expertise with C/C++ and its build ecosystem (e.g., CMake, Bazel, Meson), with the ability to reason about toolchains, linkers, compilers, and build behavior at a systems level Proven ability to architect and operate build infrastructure at scale, including CI/CD pipelines, caching systems, and cross-compilation environments Strong command of the Linux operating system — including internals, networking, file systems, permissions, and resource management Proficiency in scripting and automation (Python, Bash) with an emphasis on building maintainable, production-grade tooling Demonstrated experience driving technical strategy beyond your immediate team — through design docs, RFCs, or technical proposals that influenced engineering-wide decisions Track record of identifying and solving ambiguous, org-wide technical problems that no single team owns Excellent communication skills — ability to translate complex build and infrastructure concepts for diverse audiences and advocate for platform investment to leadership Solid understanding of core networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP) EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. 5+ years of relevant experience in a DevOps, Software Engineering, or Build/Release Engineering role. A proven track record of supporting software development teams by building and maintaining reliable infrastructure and effective tooling. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times. Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen. Hearing and speech to communicate.