Senior Systems Engineer

About Cyngn, Inc.

Based in Mountain View, CA, Cyngn is a publicly-traded autonomous technology company. We deploy self-driving industrial vehicles -specifically autonomous tuggers -  to factories, warehouses, and other facilities throughout North America. To build this emergent technology, we are looking for innovative, motivated, and experienced leaders to join us and move this field forward. If you like to build, tinker, and create with a team of trusted and passionate colleagues, then Cyngn is the place for you. Key reasons to join Cyngn:

 

We are small and big.

With under 100 employees, Cyngn operates with the energy of a startup. On the other hand, we’re publicly traded. This means our employees not only work in close-knit teams with mentorship from company leaders—they also get access to the liquidity of our publicly-traded equity.

 

We build today and deploy tomorrow.

Our autonomous vehicles aren’t just test concepts—they’re deployed to real clients right now. That means your work will have a tangible, visible impact.

 

We aren’t robots. We just develop them.

We’re a welcoming, diverse team of sharp thinkers and kind humans. Collaboration and trust drive our creative environment. At Cyngn, everyone’s perspective matters—and that’s what powers our innovation.

 

About the role

• Our Vehicles & Hardware team develops the physical systems that power Cyngn’s autonomous products, with a strong focus on real-world deployment, safety certification, and operational robustness. 
• Cyngn is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to lead system definition and architecture for autonomous vehicle and robotics platforms. This role is a senior, hands-on systems position responsible for converting high-level product requirements (L0/L1 user stories and product intent) into detailed, testable engineering specifications, architectures, and verification plans using a structured V-model systems engineering approach.
• This is a generalist systems role spanning sensors, compute, power distribution, actuation, and safety-critical behaviors. The ideal candidate has deep experience in industrial robotics or vehicle systems, understands safety certification expectations, and can bridge product intent with disciplined engineering execution.

What you'll do

• 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

Bonus 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) through Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, and Guardian, with multiple plan tiers to choose from
• Ancillary benefits including accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity plans (Voya)
• Company-paid basic life insurance, plus voluntary (supplemental) life for you and your dependents
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance plans, fully paid by Cyngn
• HSA and FSA (Health & Dependent Daycare)
• Employee Assistance Program
• 1:1 Health Concierge
• Company 401(k)
• Commuter Benefits
• Flexible PTO 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

What You Can Expect (Cyngn’s interview process) 

• A real person will review your application
• We’ll kick off the process with a one-sided video interview where you’ll share a little more about yourself and we’ll get some basic questions out of the way
• A Recruiter touch point will go over the process in more detail and answer your questions
• A 45-minute interview with the hiring manager
• A full-loop interview process consisting of 3-4 additional conversations to gauge technical and soft skills and culture fit. 
• A final onsite interview with the team.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Cyngn is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital status, familial status, military or veteran status, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, compensation, benefits, training, promotion, discipline, and termination.

If you require accommodation during the application or interview process due to a disability, please let us know and we will work with you to provide reasonable accommodation

A Note on Recruitment Scams

We've seen an increase in fraudulent job offers and phishing attempts impersonating real companies, including Cyngn.

To protect yourself:

• All official communication from Cyngn recruiters and hiring managers will come from an email address ending in @cyngn.com. We will never contact you from a personal email (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) or via unsolicited text message or messaging app.
• Cyngn will never ask you to pay for equipment, training, background checks, or any other fees as part of the application or hiring process.
• We will never ask for sensitive personal or financial information (e.g., bank account or Social Security number) before you've been extended and have accepted a formal offer through official channels.
• If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from Cyngn, please do not respond with personal information, and feel free to verify by reaching out to us directly through our official careers page.

The pay range for this role is:
170,000 - 190,000 USD per year(HQ - Terra Bella)