Sr. Software Engineer, Optimus Charging

About the role

• Sr. Software Engineer, Optimus Charging | Tesla (Energy Engineering)
• Location: Palo Alto, California | Req ID: 279215 | Job Type: Full-time
• What to Expect

We’re building humanoid robots for an age of abundance: machines that work at real scale so people can do more of what only people can do. Optimus only ships if we can charge it reliably, often, and without babysitting every unit in the field.

The Tesla Energy / Optimus Charging software team is looking for a Software Engineer to own communications, telemetry, and over-the-air (OTA) software for the offboard Optimus charger so fleets stay healthy, observable, and updatable in factories, labs, and denser deployments, and so chargers coordinate with each other and site infrastructure when many units share power and space.

The comms controller is the nervous system of that product. It aggregates device health and usage telemetry, manages reliable connectivity to local and cloud systems, delivers and verifies OTA updates safely, and participates in multi-device coordination (load sharing, discovery, and site-level control) similar to commercial charging installations.

Our stack is diverse: device firmware and services, local networking, secure update pipelines, and fleet-facing telemetry. Pragmatism, willingness to dive into new codebases and hardware bring-up, eagerness to work with stakeholders (hardware, controls, robotics, compliance, manufacturing), and engineering leadership are key strengths we expect you to bring to the table.

What You'll Do

• Design, implement, and debug software on the Optimus offboard charger communications controller: connectivity, device services, and control-plane interfaces between charger subsystems and the outside world
• Own telemetry end-to-end: what we measure, how we buffer and transport it under poor links, how we make it actionable for diagnostics, fleet health, and product improvement
• Build and harden OTA capability: download, authentication, staging, A/B or recovery paths, versioning, and safe apply/rollback under power and network fault conditions
• Implement device coordination and site behaviors analogous to commercial charging, e.g. multi-charger discovery, load sharing / power budgeting, local control when WAN is degraded, and clear APIs toward site or factory systems
• Collaborate with electrical, controls, and robotics teams on requirements, interfaces, and bring-up of new charger hardware revisions
• Develop tools and diagnostics for factory programming, install/commissioning, field debug, and interoperability with third-party or internal backends as needed
• Contribute to system architecture, automated tests (unit, integration, HIL where applicable), and release practices that keep a growing charger fleet reliable
• Use fleet signals and field failures to drive continuous firmware improvements after launch

What You'll Bring

• Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent experience
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and work in an extremely fast-paced, collaborative environment
• Experience developing mission-critical embedded or edge device software and corresponding test suites
• Proficiency in systems languages used on-device (e.g. C, Rust, Go) and comfort debugging real hardware
• Real-world experience with device connectivity and Internet/IoT protocols (e.g. HTTP/REST, WebSockets, gRPC, MQTT, TLS) and at least one of: embedded Linux services, RTOS-adjacent networking, or gateway/comms-controller software
• Experience building or operating telemetry, logging, or remote diagnostics pipelines for fielded devices
• Experience with OTA / remote update systems (secure boot alignment, signed images, dual-bank/recovery, bandwidth- and power-aware updates) is a strong plus
• Exposure to distributed or multi-node edge systems- load sharing, device coordination, offline/degraded-mode behavior, or site controllers- is highly desirable (commercial EVSE, industrial IoT, energy, or robotics infrastructure are all relevant)
• Strong software fundamentals: clear interfaces, failure handling, maintainability, and testability
• Hands-on lab bring-up, reading schematics, and cross-functional debug with hardware teams is a plus

Benefits

Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:

• Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
• Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
• Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
• Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
• Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
• Employee Assistance Program
• Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
• Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
• Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
• Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
• Tesla Babies program
• Commuter benefits
• Employee discounts and perks program
• Earned Wage Access: Real-time pay access paid daily, subject to eligibility and schedule (applicable for below Sr. Managers levels)

Expected Compensation$140,000 - $300,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefitsPay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.