Senior Systems Engineer

Team: Vehicles and Hardware

Location: Mountain View, CA

Commitment: Full-Time

Workplace Type: onsite

Responsibilities

• Translate L0/L1 product requirements and user stories into complete, unambiguous, and testable system and subsystem specifications (L2+).

• Define system architectures and interfaces for autonomous vehicle and robotics platforms, including:

  • Sensors (perception and low-level feedback)

  • Compute and embedded controllers

  • Power distribution and protection

  • Actuation and drive systems

  • Own requirements decomposition, allocation, and traceability across mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software domains.

  • Develop system-level verification and validation plans, including test strategies, acceptance criteria, and pass/fail definitions aligned with the systems engineering V-model.

  • Lead technical trade studies, risk assessments, and architectural decisions with a focus on safety, reliability, and manufacturability.

  • Act as the systems engineering point of contact for industrial safety certification, ensuring system requirements and test plans support compliance.

  • Collaborate with product management, safety engineering, hardware, firmware, software, and test teams to ensure aligned execution.

  • Drive cross-functional design reviews, requirements reviews, and system readiness milestones.

  • Support integration, debugging, and validation of vehicle and robotic systems during development and deployment phases.

Safety & Certification Responsibilities

• Incorporate industrial safety requirements into system architecture, requirements, and test planning.

• Support compliance efforts related to ANSI B56 standards for industrial trucks and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

• Work closely with safety and compliance teams to define safety functions, fault responses, and operational limits.

• Ensure system behaviors are well-defined for normal operation, degraded modes, and fault conditions.

• Contribute to safety-related documentation, including requirements, test evidence, and certification support artifacts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or related field.

• 8+ years of experience in systems engineering for complex electro-mechanical systems (robotics, vehicles, industrial automation, autonomy).

• Strong experience translating product-level requirements into detailed engineering specifications and verification plans.

• Solid understanding of industrial safety standards, particularly ANSI B56 and related AMR / industrial vehicle safety frameworks.

• Hands-on familiarity with low-level sensors and feedback systems, including:

  • Encoders (incremental, absolute)

  • Angle and position sensors

  • Temperature sensors

  • Current and voltage sensing

  • Working knowledge of motor systems and actuation, including:

    • Motor commutation concepts (e.g., BLDC, PMSM)

    • Feedback and control considerations

    • Fault detection and protection

    • Experience defining interfaces between sensors, embedded controllers, power electronics, and higher-level compute.

    • Strong technical communication skills with the ability to clearly document and review complex system behavior.

    • Comfortable working on-site 5 days per week in Mountain View, CA

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with autonomous mobile robots, industrial vehicles, or material handling equipment.

• Prior involvement in safety certification, audits, or compliance testing for industrial or robotic systems.

• Familiarity with system integration, bring-up, and hardware validation testing.

• Experience working in fast-paced product development environments with cross-functional teams.

Benefits & Perks

Health benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA and FSA (Health & Dependent Daycare), Employee Assistance Program, 1:1 Health Concierge)
Life, Short-term and long-term disability insurance (Cyngn funds 100% of premiums)
Company 401(k)
Commuter Benefits
Flexible vacation policy
Sabbatical leave opportunity after 5 years with the company
Paid Parental Leave
Daily lunches for in-office employees and fully-stocked kitchen with snacks and beverages
Monthly meal and tech allowances for remote employees