Staff Platform Engineer
Location: Columbus, OH (100% Onsite, 5 Days per Week)
Job Type: Direct Hire, Full-Time
Position Overview
Our client is seeking a Staff Platform Engineer to own the architecture of its robotics software platform, the foundation on which control algorithms, AI systems, and safety-critical software operate. This highly visible technical leadership role will define the platform strategy as the product evolves from FDA Class II 510(k) clearance toward commercial deployment.
The Staff Platform Engineer will establish the technical direction for how software interfaces with hardware, scales across future products, and complies with FDA design controls and software safety requirements. This individual will work closely with Robotics, AI, Firmware, Quality, and Regulatory teams while mentoring engineers and driving engineering excellence across the platform organization.
FDA-regulated medical device experience is required for this role.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the architecture and technical roadmap for the software platform layer, including hardware interfaces, control algorithm integration, and safety-critical subsystems.
- Define, document, and communicate platform-level design decisions related to real-time constraints, fault handling, safety interlocks, versioning strategies, and software upgrade processes.
- Drive software development practices that satisfy IEC 62304 software lifecycle and safety classification requirements, including Class B and Class C software components.
- Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to maintain Design History Files (DHF), software traceability, and compliance documentation.
- Establish and enforce standards for software quality, code reviews, automated testing, test coverage, and engineering documentation.
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to platform, embedded, and firmware engineers.
- Represent platform architecture during design reviews, ISO 14971 risk assessments, FDA audits, and regulatory inspections.
- Collaborate with Robotics, Controls, and AI teams to develop scalable platform abstractions and APIs that meet real-world product requirements.
- Guide architectural decisions that support performance, reliability, safety, and maintainability throughout the product lifecycle.
- Champion best practices that improve developer experience while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- 10-15 years of software engineering experience, including leading the development of complex software platforms from early-stage development through commercial launch.
- Required: Experience developing software within an FDA-regulated medical device environment.
- Experience working under formal software lifecycle and safety standards such as IEC 62304, FDA Design Controls, DO-178C, ISO 26262, or similar regulated frameworks.
- Demonstrated success owning architecture-level decisions for a platform, framework, or software ecosystem.
- Experience establishing and promoting test-driven development (TDD) practices and software quality processes.
- Proven ability to collaborate across engineering, quality, regulatory, and product organizations.
- Strong leadership, communication, and mentoring skills.
Technical Requirements
- Deep expertise in C++ and real-time or embedded software development.
- Strong background in software architecture, framework design, and platform engineering.
- Experience designing APIs, reusable frameworks, and platform abstractions used by multiple engineering teams.
- Proven ability to create architectural documentation that supports audits, regulatory reviews, and knowledge transfer.
- Experience translating complex technical and compliance requirements into practical engineering solutions.
- Strong focus on software quality, reliability, scalability, and maintainability.
- Experience contributing to Design History Files (DHF), risk documentation, software traceability, or equivalent regulatory artifacts.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.
Preferred Qualifications
- Direct experience supporting FDA 510(k) or PMA submissions.
- Python development experience.
- Familiarity with robotic systems, computing hardware, embedded Linux, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and sensor/actuator interfaces.
- Experience with Robot Operating System (ROS2).
- Startup or early-stage company experience.
- Experience building or scaling a platform engineering function.
- Previous experience mentoring engineers and technical leaders.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a hands-on technical leader who has successfully built software platforms in FDA-regulated environments and understands how to balance innovation, safety, quality, and compliance. You have made architecture-level decisions that impacted an entire product ecosystem, thrive in cross-functional environments, and enjoy mentoring engineers while building scalable foundations for future growth.
This is a direct hire opportunity requiring onsite attendance five days per week in the Columbus, Ohio market. FDA medical device experience is a mandatory requirement.
By submitting to this position, you are agreeing to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions.
