OTX Runtime Engineer

About Salvo Software

Salvo Software is a global firm that provides cost-effective software solutions to guide enterprises and startups through digital transformation. We build products that sit at the intersection of automotive diagnostics, embedded systems, and modern software architecture — shipping tools that real engineers rely on in production environments around the world.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Senior OTX Runtime Engineer to design and ship a production-grade runtime for the ISO 13209 Open Test sequence eXchange (OTX) standard. This is a deeply technical, high-ownership role at the core of Salvo's diagnostic toolchain.

You will own the full runtime stack — from XML deserialization and the object model through the type system, evaluator, executor, and extension framework — and integrate it with a D-Server layer that speaks ODX, UDS, and the D-PDU API. The work demands equal fluency in language-implementation concepts, Kotlin Multiplatform engineering, and automotive diagnostic protocols.

Key Responsibilities

OTX Runtime Core

• Design and implement an ISO 13209-compliant OTX runtime, covering the full object model, deserializer, and type system.
• Build a tree-walking interpreter for the OTX XML-based DSL, including AST design using sealed/algebraic data types.
• Implement a variable scoping and parameter binding engine faithful to the OTX specification.
• Develop the evaluator and executor pipeline, ensuring correct handling of procedural flows, conditions, loops, and exception handling as defined in ISO 13209-1/2.
• Design and implement the OTX extension framework to support runtime-loadable extensions.
• Handle streaming XML parsing with namespace resolution and xsi:type polymorphic deserialization.

D-Server & Diagnostic Integration

• Integrate the runtime with a D-Server layer: implement ODX parsing, service catalog management, and UDS request/response encoding and decoding.
• Implement built-in OTX extensions including DiagCom adapter, PDU-to-J2534 adapter, and log:/file:/str:/ext:/flash:/even: extensions.
• Develop diagnostic application logic targeting J2534 and D-PDU API (ISO 22900-2) diagnostic interfaces.
• Support flash programming workflows across multiple OEM configurations.

Kotlin Multiplatform & Quality

• Ship the runtime as a Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) library targeting JVM and native platforms.
• Write robust concurrent code using Kotlin Coroutines and Mutex primitives; debug and resolve production deadlocks.
• Define and maintain a comprehensive test suite covering OTX conformance, edge cases in diagnostic protocol encoding, and runtime stability.
• Participate in design reviews, contribute to internal documentation, and mentor team members on OTX and diagnostic protocol topics.

Must-Have Experience

• Shipped an OTX-compliant runtime to production in any language.
• Participated in development of a D-Server diagnostic interface, including ODX parsing and executing UDS services across multiple OEMs.
• Deep, subject-matter-expert knowledge of ISO 13209-1/2 (OTX) and ISO 22901-1 (ODX).
• Shipped at least one Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) library to production.
• Production experience debugging concurrency issues using Kotlin Coroutines and Mutex.
• Implemented a tree-walking interpreter for an XML-based DSL.
• Designed ASTs using sealed or algebraic data types.
• Handled streaming XML parsing with namespace resolution and xsi:type polymorphism.
• Strong command of Kotlin; candidates with equivalent depth in Java, Scala, or C# will also be considered.

Diagnostic Protocol Knowledge

• Subject-matter expert in UDS (ISO 14229), ISO-TP (ISO 15765), and CAN/CAN-FD (ISO 11898).
• Experience developing diagnostic applications targeting J2534 and/or D-PDU API (ISO 22900-2).
• Working knowledge of KW2000 and OBD-II (SAE J1979).
• Experience with flash programming is a strong plus.

Nice to Have

• Hands-on experience with commercial OTX authoring tools (e.g., ETAS EDIABAS OTX Studio, SOFTING).
• Familiarity with commercial ODX authoring tools (e.g., Mazel & Quack OTX/ODX Editor).
• Experience with heavy-duty vehicle diagnostics (SAE J1939).
• Background in automotive OEM or Tier-1 supplier environments.