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Forterra · 8 hours ago

C++ Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

East Palo Alto, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$130K/yr - $165K/yr

8+ years exp

Forterra is a leading provider of autonomous systems for ground-based movement. They are seeking a Senior/Staff Software Engineer to design and build Fabric, their core distributed systems platform, which is essential for interoperability between autonomous vehicles and services.

Defense & Space

Growth Opportunities

No H1B

Security Clearance Required

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Lead the design and implementation of core Fabric services and libraries in modern C++

Architect distributed systems that operate reliably over low-bandwidth, high-latency, and unreliable networks

Design APIs and abstractions that enable teams to register, serialize, replicate, and query arbitrary data types

Define and evolve patterns for discovery, addressing, routing, and replication across fixed and dynamic topologies

Build and maintain high-performance messaging, transport, and synchronization layers

Drive decisions around consistency models, reliability guarantees, and failure handling

Collaborate with partner teams (autonomy, TerraLink, ATAK, web, and external integrators) to ensure Fabric meets real-world requirements

Establish best practices for correctness, performance, observability, and maintainability

Contribute to long-term technical strategy, roadmap planning, and architectural reviews

Document designs clearly for both engineering and integration audiences

Qualification

C++Distributed systemsMessage-oriented middlewareAutomated testingLinux developmentTechnical project leadershipNetworking expertiseReal-time systemsCMakeCommunication skills

Required

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

8+ years of professional software engineering experience

Expert-level proficiency in modern C++ (C++17 or later)

Experience with publish/subscribe or message-oriented middlewares (e.g., gRPC, DDS, ZeroMQ, MQTT, custom transports)

Strong testing fundamentals and experience developing automated tests in C++ using GoogleTest, Boost.Test, or similar frameworks (unit, integration, regression)

Familiar with best practices such as test case design, edge-case coverage, mocking/stubbing, and maintaining reliable CI-friendly test suites

Solid understanding of distributed systems fundamentals, including: Replication and consistency models, Leader election and coordination, Failure detection and recovery, Concurrency and synchronization

Experience building or operating production distributed systems

Deep familiarity with Linux-based development and deployment environments

Proven ability to lead technical projects from concept through production

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex systems clearly

Preferred

Networking expertise, including unicast/multicast, routing, and constrained or unreliable links

Experience building systems for edge environments, robotics, or embedded platforms

Familiarity with real-time or near-real-time systems

Familiarity with consensus protocols (e.g., Raft, Paxos, or variants)

Experience with CMake, Conan, Bazel, or similar build systems

Exposure to observability tools (logging, metrics, tracing) in distributed systems

Background in defense, automotive, robotics, or safety-critical software

Benefits

Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.

Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.

Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.

Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.

A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.

A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.

Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.

401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%