Production Engineer - Data Infrastructure in San Francisco

Overview:

Polymath Robotics is creating software that can safely control all of the world's industrial vehicles, and we’re looking for a Production Engineer/DevOps person to join our team. We’re a small, close-knit group of roughly 10 people, each of us experts in our fields, working to bring autonomous vehicles to various industries quickly. We believe this moment in robotics and autonomy is as groundbreaking as the PC industry of the 80s, and we need your help.

This role is at the intersection of infrastructure and robotics, offering the opportunity to develop innovative solutions that directly impact our fleet management capabilities. You will play a key role in shaping how we leverage data to enhance system reliability and performance, enabling the success of our robotics applications.

Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and maintain scalable data infrastructure, including Prometheus, with a focus on metrics, logging, and fleet management.
• Develop and optimize solutions for storing and querying large datasets, including rosbags/mcap files, to support robotics applications.
• Build and maintain automated backup, recovery, and monitoring systems to ensure high availability and data integrity.
• Collaborate with software developers to embed infrastructure solutions within production environments, enabling real-time data analysis and fleet management.
• Develop tools and dashboards to provide a unified view of system performance and fleet metrics ("single pane of glass").
• Drive the implementation of robotic fleet management systems, leveraging infrastructure expertise to bridge gaps between developer and roboticist needs.
• Research and implement best practices for database and metrics management to enhance performance, scalability, and security.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues in data pipelines and infrastructure, ensuring reliability in production environments.
• Mentor team members in best software practices, focusing on a good balance between speed, quality, and scalability.
• Maintain high ownership of your work, witnessing firsthand the impact of your code on customer vehicles performing real tasks.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience
• Proven experience with setting up, maintaining, and scaling Prometheus and/or PostgreSQL databases in production environments.
• Strong coding and scripting skills (e.g., Python, Go, or similar) for automation and infrastructure tooling.
• Solid understanding of networking concepts and their integration with data infrastructure.
• Experience with logging, metrics collection, and monitoring systems in production environments.
• Familiarity with robotics data formats and tooling (e.g., rosbags) is a strong plus.
• Ability to design and implement solutions for complex data requirements, including storage, querying, and visualization.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with a proactive mindset to bridge gaps between infrastructure and development teams.
• A passion for high ownership of work and a collaborative spirit, with the ability to contribute anywhere on the stack as needed.

Why Join Polymath Robotics?

• Collaborative Environment: Work alongside fantastic team members on collaborative projects
• Hybrid Workplace: Enjoy the flexibility of a hybrid work model, with engineering based in our SF Mission office three days a week, giving a good balance of maker time and synchronization time.
• Open Source Advocacy: We strongly support open-source robotics efforts, allowing your work to be shareable and publishable whenever possible.
• Humor & Passion: We might occasionally be a bunch of rosbags, but our passion and humor drive us to accelerate the realization of autonomous vehicles in the industry.

Application Process:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume, a cover letter detailing their experience and interest in the role, and any relevant portfolio or project links.

Polymath Robotics is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We don’t look for a “cultural fit”, we look for people who add to the culture.

Ideally we want to get through this process in 1 week, 2 worst case:

1. Intro call - 30 mins on Zoom
2. Technical Interview - 1 hr on Zoom or in person
3. Team Meet & Great - 1 hr in person, usually around lunch
   • Can be combined with Technical Interview
4. Founders Call - 30 mins on Zoom or in person