Software Engineer - Core Systems

About this role

1X is hiring a Software Engineer to build the core C++ infrastructure powering NEO, a humanoid robot designed for home use. You'll own real-time sensor pipelines, motor control systems, and inter-process communication layers that directly enable the perception and planning teams. This is critical systems work where performance and reliability directly impact what the entire robotics stack can ship.

What you'll do

• Design and maintain real-time C++ infrastructure including sensor pipelines, motor control interfaces, and deterministic scheduling
• Establish performance standards through benchmarking, profiling tools, and regression tracking to catch latency/throughput issues early
• Build IPC and serialization layers connecting perception, planning, and actuation systems with clean, reliable interfaces
• Ship foundational libraries that operate reliably across thousands of deployed robots in homes and warehouses
• Debug and optimize across Linux toolchain, kernel interfaces, and hardware to ensure systems meet latency and correctness requirements
• Collaborate with perception, planning, and controls teams to unblock their work through robust foundational systems

What they're looking for

• C++ systems programming with 5+ years in performance-critical production environments
• Linux systems fluency, profiling, and debugging (flamegraphs, perf counters, assembly inspection)
• Real-time systems design and deterministic behavior under load
• Lock-free data structures, memory pools, and shared-memory IPC patterns
• Cross-compilation toolchains and embedded Linux targets
• Robotics, autonomous vehicles, or physical systems experience
• Performance benchmarking and systems-level optimization
• Interface design with minimal dependencies and clear contracts