TAR Logo

TAR

VP of Autonomy

Posted 3 Days Ago
Be an Early Applicant
In-Office or Remote
Hiring Remotely in CA
Expert/Leader
In-Office or Remote
Hiring Remotely in CA
Expert/Leader
Lead TAR’s autonomy software organization for construction robots, owning strategy, architecture, perception, planning, controls, deployment, and continuous improvement across a growing fleet. Hire and develop engineers and managers, guide the software lifecycle, partner closely with hardware and manufacturing teams, and establish field-feedback loops. The role represents autonomy with executives, customers, partners, and investors and requires substantial field engagement at the West Texas deployment site.
The summary above was generated by AI
Mission

TAR’s mission is to power intelligence for the world. We are building the world’s first off-grid power plant for data centers powered by renewable technologies.

We firmly believe AI should be built in the US for the benefit of all people. For that, power must be fast, clean and scalable. We are singularly focused on delivering GW-scale power faster than anyone has ever done, by rethinking every layer of the stack.

We vertically integrate to solve every bottleneck, from racking systems to power electronics to dispatch algorithms to on-site construction.

Leave your mark on the future of civilization-scale energy infrastructure.

Company

TAR is both a hardware and software company, we are building out massive, critical, physical infrastructure. TAR is working directly with one of the largest compute providers to scale and deploy 5GWs by 2028.

We operate on…

  • High ownership. High Agency. Own project end-to-end. Great people don’t need to be managed.

  • Speed. We achieve great things on incredible timelines. We push ourselves to go faster.

  • First principles. No ego. No hierarchy. Challenge every assumption.

  • Passion. Solving the energy problem is one of the largest challenges that faces the world now and in the future.

About the role

TAR builds its own construction robots to install a proprietary solar racking system at the scale and pace gigawatt campuses demand. The robots and the hardware they run are engineered together, and the autonomy software that drives them has to hold up in the dust, heat, and vibration of a live construction site in West Texas. As VP of Autonomy, you own the autonomy software organization: perception, planning, and controls for TAR's robotics systems. You take autonomy from early development through field deployment across a growing robot fleet, set the technical direction and system architecture, and hire and lead the engineers and managers who ship it. This is a leadership-team seat based at our San Francisco robotics facility, with real time in the field at our West Texas site.

Responsibilities
  • Define and own the autonomy software strategy and technical roadmap for TAR's robotics systems, tying engineering priorities to a hard construction schedule and the company's energy-infrastructure mission.

  • Build and lead the autonomy software organization, hiring, structuring, and developing individual contributors and engineering managers as the scope grows from one robot to a fleet.

  • Own system architecture across autonomy, perception, planning, and controls, making design choices that hold up under real operating conditions in the field, not only in simulation.

  • Drive the software development lifecycle end to end, from roadmap and prioritization through release, monitoring, and continuous improvement.

  • Partner directly with hardware and manufacturing leadership so autonomy software is co-developed with the robots it runs on rather than bolted on afterward.

  • Serve as the senior autonomy voice on the leadership team, shaping investment decisions, roadmap trade-offs, and deployment timing alongside engineering, product, and executive leadership.

  • Represent autonomy externally with customers, partners, and investors when technical credibility in robotics software is what earns trust.

  • Establish field-feedback loops so lessons from deployed robots feed directly back into the software roadmap and architecture.

Qualifications
  • 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years leading a software organization at the Director, Head of, or VP level.

  • Hands-on track record building and scaling a software team from an early stage, setting technical direction, engineering process, and hiring.

  • Demonstrated ownership of software or autonomy for a robotics system in production or field deployment, from early development through real-world operation.

  • Deep expertise in autonomous systems software: perception, planning, controls, or a closely related discipline.

  • Strong communication skills, comfortable representing autonomy and software decisions to executive leadership, customers, and investors.

Nice to have
  • Experience with autonomy for energy, industrial, or infrastructure robotics, such as Anduril, Built Robotics, or Tesla, rather than consumer robotics.

  • A track record partnering closely with hardware teams on tightly coupled hardware, software, and autonomy systems.

  • Background in a high-growth, venture-backed robotics or hardware startup.

  • Experience standing up an autonomy software organization from zero to one, building it before you scale it.

Salary and Benefits
  • Up to $15K relocation bonus

  • Unlimited PTO

  • Health, Dental, Vision insurance

  • $1K monthly stipend for meals

Similar Jobs

Senior level
AdTech • Cloud • Digital Media • Information Technology • News + Entertainment • App development
Create high-quality 3D character gameplay animations for navigation, interactions, conversations, traversal, and other gameplay systems. Export, implement, and test animations in the game engine; troubleshoot animation issues; collaborate with animators, designers, and gameplay programmers; participate in reviews; and mentor junior animators. The role requires strong knowledge of body mechanics, biped locomotion, motion capture, keyframe animation, gameplay systems, and animation workflows, with experience shipping an AAA game.
Top Skills: Animation Blend SystemsAnimation GraphsKeyframe AnimationMayaMotion CaptureMotion MatchingMotionbuilderRiggingRoot MotionUnreal Engine
6 Hours Ago
Remote
Canada
Internship
Internship
Cloud • Information Technology • Productivity • Security • Software • App development • Automation
Participate in a 15-week full-time software engineering internship in Vancouver, Burnaby, or Richmond. Build and ship product features, contribute code to Atlassian products, apply data structures and algorithms, and learn full-lifecycle development through mentorship and collaboration with senior engineers. Work may involve cloud initiatives and AI-driven features.
Top Skills: CC++JavaPython
7 Hours Ago
Easy Apply
Remote
Canada
Easy Apply
Senior level
Senior level
Cloud • Security • Software • Cybersecurity • Automation
Own and evolve GitLab’s authorization systems across its Ruby on Rails monolith and next-generation Rust policy engine. Design fine-grained permissions for users, tokens, roles, and AI agents; secure GraphQL and REST APIs; lead feature-flagged rollouts and migrations; improve performance and reliability; and collaborate across authentication, platform, AI, and modular-service teams in a distributed asynchronous environment.
Top Skills: CedarGoGraphQLGrpcProtocol BuffersRestRubyRuby On RailsRustYamlZanzibar-Style Authorization

What you need to know about the Calgary Tech Scene

Employees can spend up to one-third of their life at work, so choosing the right company is crucial, not just for the job itself but for the company culture as well. While startups often offer dynamic culture and growth opportunities, large corporations provide benefits like career development and networking, especially appealing to recent graduates. Fortunately, Calgary stands out as a hub for both, recognized as one of Startup Genome's Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems, while also playing host to a number of multinational enterprises. In Calgary, job seekers can find a wide range of opportunities.

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account