Principal Software Engineer, Robotics

With more than $1B in revenue, Tennant Company is a globally recognized leader in the cleaning equipment industry. For the past 150 years, we have been passionate about developing and manufacturing innovative and sustainable solutions for our customers. At Tennant Company, we are committed to stewardship and creating a cleaner, safer and healthier world. With manufacturing, operations and sales, service, and support functions across the globe, your journey at Tennant can take you places you never expected.

At Tennant Company, we’re redefining how the world cleans through intelligent, autonomous, and connected machines. Our Robotics Product Development team builds the software brains behind industry‑leading cleaning robots—and we’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help shape what’s next.

This is a senior technical leadership role for an engineer who thrives at the intersection of embedded systems, machine‑level software, and connected architectures. You’ll define and drive the software architectures that power complex robotic platforms—from low‑level hardware interfaces to secure, connected systems—while mentoring engineers and influencing the technical direction of our robotics portfolio.

Why This Role Matters

As a Principal Software Engineer, you are a technical authority and architect, translating product and business needs into resilient, scalable software systems. Your impact will be visible across multiple generations of robotic products, accelerating development velocity while maintaining technical excellence, safety, and compliance.

Success in this role is measured by:

• The strength and durability of the software architecture


• Seamless integration across embedded, mechanical, electrical, and connected systems


• The ability to guide teams through complexity and ambiguity with clarity and confidence

What You’ll Do

Software Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Own and evolve the software architecture for new and existing autonomous and robotic cleaning machines.


• Establish architectural direction emphasizing scalability, reuse, performance, maintainability, and security.


• Act as a technical authority across embedded and connected domains, including collaboration with external partners on third‑party controllers.


• Partner with Product Management, Systems Engineering, and other architects to translate portfolio‑level requirements into executable software designs.

Embedded & Platform Software Development

• Lead development of embedded platforms using C/C++ on Linux and/or RTOS.


• Provide hands‑on technical leadership in:




• Board bring‑up, kernel configuration, and device trees


• Driver development and hardware abstraction layers


• Debugging complex hardware/software interfaces




• Ensure clean integration with controls, electrical, and mechanical subsystems.


• Guide communication architectures across controllers using CAN, CANOpen, Ethernet, and USB.

Quality, Safety & Compliance

• Define and promote best practices across embedded, communication, and connected software.


• Design systems that meet regulatory and compliance requirements for robotics and connected products.


• Lead program‑level quality initiatives including:




• Coding standards


• Architecture and peer reviews


• Advanced debugging, fault isolation, and root cause analysis

Development Process, Tooling & DevOps

• Lead software development through the New Product Development (NPD) lifecycle.


• Balance architectural rigor with execution speed in a fast‑moving product environment.


• Provide leadership across:




• Requirements management and traceability


• Source control (Bitbucket)


• Defect and workflow management (Jira)


• CI/CD pipelines and automated builds (Azure DevOps)

Cross‑Functional Leadership & Mentorship

• Collaborate closely with Hardware, Systems, Test, and Manufacturing teams from concept through qualification.


• Lead and participate in design reviews to ensure alignment with system‑level requirements.


• Mentor engineers at all levels, raising the technical bar and fostering strong engineering culture.


• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

What You Bring

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Software, or Computer Engineering.


• Minimum of 7 years of relevant engineering experience with deep expertise in software architecture, design, and implementation.


• Proven success in senior technical leadership roles influencing architecture and execution across teams.


• Strong embedded systems experience with Linux or RTOS, using C/C++.


• Hands‑on experience with requirements management, source control, and defect tracking tools.


• Demonstrated ability to debug complex system‑level hardware/software interactions.

Preferred Experience

• Master’s degree in Electrical, Software, or Computer Engineering.


• Background in robotics, control systems, or power electronics.


• Experience driving adoption of improved engineering practices at scale.


• Experience designing and deploying IoT and connected systems, including security and cloud integration (e.g., Azure).

What Sets You Apart

• A system‑level mindset with deep technical judgment.


• Comfort making architectural decisions amid ambiguity.


• Passion for building resilient, high‑quality software at scale.


• A collaborative, mentoring mindset that elevates others.


• Clear, influential communication across disciplines and leadership levels.

Why Tennant Company?

At Tennant, your work directly impacts real‑world automation, sustainability, and safety. You’ll collaborate with passionate engineers, influence the direction of autonomous robotics technology, and see your architectures come to life on machines deployed around the world.

Competitive base salary commensurate with experience: $113,600 - 175,700.

Posted salary ranges are made in good faith. Tennant Sales and Service Co. reserves the right to adjust ranges depending on the experience/qualifications of the selected candidate as well as internal and external equity. Total Compensation = Base Salary + Benefits

Benefits = A comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, 401(k), disability, life insurance, paid time off, and voluntary benefits!

Begin your journey with us. Let's reinvent how the world cleans. 

Equal Opportunity Employer

Tennant Company is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made on the basis of individual skill, ability, reliability, productivity, and other factors important to performance. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, veteran status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, or any other basis protected by state or federal law or local ordinance.