Staff Software Engineer, Motive
Backend
$148-226k
1-2 days a week in office
Fleet management platform for trucks
Open for applications
Fleet management platform for trucks
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$148-226k
1-2 days a week in office
1001+ employees
Company mission
To connect the world’s trucks.
Role
Who you are
- 8+ years of experience in software development, with deep expertise in either device, backend, cloud, or mobile platforms, and familiarity with others
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
- Proficiency in Golang, Kotlin, and C++, with a track record of writing elegant, maintainable, and high-performance code
- Full Stack and Ecosystem understanding - from development and dependencies, modern best practices, to CI/CD understanding, cloud-native, and security-aware experience
- Experience working with analytics and observability from client to cloud, such as Snowflake and Redash reporting, Grafana and Datadog metrics, and agent methodologies
- A proven history of independent, ambitious project delivery in fast-paced environments
- Ability to rapidly master new technologies and adapt to ambiguity, whether it’s distributed systems including embedded devices, machine learning infrastructure, or front-end frameworks
- A strategic problem-solver who balances technical trade-offs with business impact
- Strong communication skills, capable of translating complex technical challenges into clear, actionable plans
- A natural leader with the conviction to push for the right technical solutions and challenge the status quo
What the job involves
- At Motive, we’re not just looking for engineers—we’re seeking Superbuilders
- As a Staff System Software Engineer, you will be at the forefront of designing and developing cutting-edge IoT platforms, turning ambitious visions into scalable, high-performance solutions
- You thrive on solving complex technical challenges, mastering new technologies on the fly, and delivering pragmatic solutions that drive impact at scale
- This role offers the opportunity to influence technical stack decisions, shape the company’s engineering roadmap, and work closely with the CTO
- You will engage in high-impact workstreams with the freedom to innovate, taking ownership of projects across devices, cloud, and mobile platforms
- If you are a self-starter with a data-driven mindset and an obsession for excellence, this is the role for you
- Architect and Build: Design, develop, and optimize high-performance software and firmware for next-gen IoT platforms
- Turn Vision into Reality: Collaborate with executive and product teams to translate abstract ideas into actionable engineering plans
- Debug and Validate: Troubleshoot and optimize software on complex distributed systems, ensuring security, scalability, and resilience
- Develop Automated Testing: Create data test driven end to end simulation frameworks to validate system integrity at scale
- Adopt Cutting-Edge Tools: Leverage AI-powered coding tools to enhance productivity and drive innovation
- Lead by Example: Act as a technical mentor, fostering a culture of excellence, ownership, and pragmatism across the engineering team
- Iterate and Innovate: Embrace rapid iteration and experimentation, solving real-time problems and pivoting when necessary to achieve breakthrough results
Our take
Trucking is a huge but fragmented industry that was largely ignored by Silicon Valley until companies such as Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) came along. The integrated fleet management platform acts as air traffic control for trucks, bringing drivers online and into the 21st century.
The company offers both hardware and software solutions to freight companies, allowing them to manage their fleet and keep their drivers safe. One of these solutions is an AI-powered dashcam that detects unsafe driving behavior in real time and instantly alerts the driver.
The platform, which is used by over 120,000 companies, from small businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises, received series F funding in 2022, which is being used to accelerate its investment in AI, expand its product offerings into spend management, and grow its enterprise capabilities.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-13% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 8 rounds)
Jul 2025
$150m
LATE VC
May 2022
$150m
SERIES F
Total funding: $717.3m
Company HQ
Yerba Buena, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Obaid Khan
(COO)Studied Political Science and Government at University of California before founding KeepTruckin in 2013.
Shoaib Makani
(CEO)Studied Government & Economics at LSE. Analytics Intern at Yahoo. Worked for a year at Google as APMM. Went on to work in Business Development at AdMob.
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