Software Engineer, UI/UX

About BurnBot

Wildfire has stopped being a season. BurnBot builds the machines that get ahead of it — remotely operated systems that apply and contain prescribed fire, and platforms that clear heavy fuel on terrain that isn’t safe for crews.

Our fleet is at work today for PG&E, CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, Caltrans, fire districts, and tribal nations across California, Oregon, and Washington — treating land at up to 40x the pace of conventional methods. We’re roboticists, engineers, and career fire practitioners. Hardware we design in South San Francisco is in the dirt within weeks, and the people who designed it are usually standing next to it. THE ROLE ------------

One operator supervising several machines on a live burn is the whole economic argument for what we build. That happens or doesn’t happen in the interface.

You’ll own the software people actually touch: mission planning, live supervision, mapping, alarms, and the fleet tooling behind them — designed for someone in gloves, in the sun, with smoke in the air. WHAT YOU’LL OWN -------------------

• The operator interface — live telemetry, video, machine state, and controls that stay legible under pressure
• Mission planning and mapping: drawing treatment boundaries, setting plans, and reviewing what actually got treated
• Alarms and alerts. What interrupts an operator, how loudly, and what it asks them to do
• The design work itself. You’ll do your own UX here — research with crews, sketches, and the built thing.
• A design system that keeps our tools coherent as the fleet and the team grow

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

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• 5+ years building production front-end software, with strong TypeScript and React (or equivalent)
• Experience with real-time and streaming data in the browser — telemetry, video, or live state
• Mapping and geospatial UI work: Mapbox, Leaflet, deck.gl, or similar
• Genuine design sense. You can take a vague need and come back with something usable
• Testing discipline, because this software runs next to fire
• Willingness to sit with operators in the field and watch your interface fail in front of you
• BurnBot is not able to sponsor employment-based visas for this role. All candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S., and offers are contingent on Form I-9 verification.

NICE TO HAVE

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• Robotics, teleoperation, or industrial HMI interfaces
• ROS web bridges, WebRTC, or low-latency video
• Safety-critical or high-consequence UI experience
• A design background before, or alongside, the engineering one
• Wildland fire, forestry, or land management background

HOW WE WORK

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• Based onsite in South San Francisco — design, build, and test all happen in one building, and being near the machines is most of the point
• Flexible within that. You own your calendar: work the hours where you’re sharpest, and go remote on heads-down days.
• Expect a few days a month in the field across California, Oregon, and Washington. Watching your work run on a live burn is the best part of the job.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Base salary

$123,000 – $170,000 — Placement within the range depends on experience, certifications, and skills.

• Equity — Stock Options
• Health, dental, and vision
• Flexible paid time off

Physical requirements and working conditions

This position is based in an office and shop environment and includes periodic travel to field sites in California, Oregon, and Washington. Essential functions include: operating a computer for extended periods; communicating effectively in person, in writing, and by radio or phone; traveling by vehicle and by air to remote work sites; walking and standing on uneven, sloped, or unimproved terrain; working outdoors in variable weather, including heat, cold, dust, and smoke; wearing required personal protective equipment, including fire-resistant clothing, hard hat, eye protection, and safety footwear; and occasionally lifting and carrying up to 25 pounds.

BurnBot provides reasonable accommodation to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this role. To request an accommodation, contact careers@burnbot.com or (415) 795-9124 x 1010.

BurnBot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, religion or religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, registered domestic partner status, age (40 and over), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics, military or veteran status, status as a protected or honorably discharged veteran, reproductive health decisionmaking, primary language, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, request for family care or medical leave, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, or any combination of these characteristics.

Employment is contingent on satisfactory completion of a background check and a pre-employment drug screen, conducted after a conditional offer of employment and in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local law, including fair chance laws under which qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records are considered for employment.

If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please contact us at (415) 795-9124 x 1010 or careers@burnbot.com.