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Principal Software Engineer

Freeform, Los Angeles, CA (On-site) +1

Posted pay

$225K–$400K

a year

Location: Los Angeles, CA (On-site) +1
Work type: Not given
Level: Principal
Experience: 10+ years
Skills in the job text: C++
Rust
C
FPGA
Posted: Apr 2, 2026
Last check: 9 h ago
Job type: Software engineering, Inference & ML systems, ML / AI engineering

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Freeform

About Freeform: funding, hiring and pay

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The role

Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating manufacturing as a single integrated system, we unlock a new era of innovation where complex hardware is designed, built, and scaled without limits.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will act in a technical leadership capacity responsible for driving innovative development efforts across our broad software ecosystem including edge computing, hardware control and automation, and high-rate telemetry systems. We are looking for someone who can work effectively with electrical, mechanical, and process engineering disciplines as well as technical executives to invent and implement complex, interdisciplinary performance requirements.

As a startup, we expect this person to be hands on from architecture to implementation, writing code and solving the most complex issues. Ultimately, your contributions will result in the deployment of highly sophisticated software platforms capable of processing petabytes of high-rate data on the edge and automating factory systems around the world.

3D printing experience is not required to be successful here - rather we look for smart, motivated, collaborative engineers who love solving hard problems and creating amazing technology!

What you will do

Provide architectural leadership for the development of a complex, highly integrated software system
Take on the most challenging development and implementation efforts in our software stack
Lead system level integration and validation efforts
Provide technical project management from conception to production when required by the size/scope of the project
Drive communication and collaboration with the broader engineering team by working side-by-side with the electrical, mechanical, and process engineering teams
Innovate on system capability and performance, accelerate engineering progress, and push the bounds of Freeform’s technology forward

What you need

10+ years of hands-on experience architecting and implementing complex software systems using C/C++/Rust
Experience in industries such as robotics, IoT, autonomous cars, UAVs, or similar autonomy-centric environments
Experience working in a high-performance compute environment (FPGAs or GPUs)

Nice to have

BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field
Experience with edge computing, high speed data acquisition, and real time closed-loop-control systems
Experience with hardware acceleration for machine learning or artificial intelligence
Experience working in a startup or leading-edge technology environment
Creative thinker able to apply first-principles reasoning to solve complex problems
Passion for how software can be used to impact the physical world

Location

Based in Hawthorne, our vertically integrated facility brings technology development, R&D, and production together under one roof. We operate at the center of LA’s deep tech ecosystem, surrounded by some of the most ambitious hardware innovation happening anywhere in the country.
Our fast-paced, cross-functional environment is built on close collaboration, and as such, this role requires full-time onsite presence (five days a week), with very limited exceptions.

Pay and benefits

We have an inclusive and diverse culture that values collaboration, learning, and making deliberate data-driven decisions.
We offer a unique opportunity to be an early and integral member of a rapidly growing company that is scaling a world-changing technology.
Benefits
Significant stock option packages
100% employer-paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance (premium PPO and HMO options)
Life insurance
Traditional and Roth 401(k)
Relocation assistance provided
Paid vacation, sick leave, and company holidays
Generous Paid Parental Leave and extended transition back to work for the birthing parent
Free daily catered lunch and dinner, and fully stocked kitchenette
Casual dress, flexible work hours, and regular catered team building events
Compensation
As a growing company, the salary range is intentionally wide as we determine the most appropriate package for each individual taking into consideration years of experience, educational background, and unique skills and abilities as demonstrated throughout the interview process. Our intent is to offer a salary that is commensurate for the company’s current stage of development and allows the employee to grow and develop within a role.
In addition to the significant stock option package, the estimated salary range for this role is $225,000-$400,000. The upper end of the range is reserved for individuals who demonstrate exceptional experience, deep domain mastery, and a proven history of high performance and impact.
Freeform is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values diversity; employment with Freeform is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Read the job posting on the Freeform site

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Source: the Freeform Greenhouse job board. We last checked this job 9 h ago. We first saw it 4 days ago. A job on a job board does not always mean that the team interviews people now. We found this job board in a public list. We did not yet compare it with the careers page of the company.

Company facts

Money raised: $67MSum of funding rounds on record
Newest round: Series BFeb 19, 2026

Funding records can have errors and can be missing. The company page has the links.

Freeform

Open tech jobs: 36
With posted pay: 86%
Median posted base: $133K–$200K

About Freeform: funding, hiring and pay

Compared with similar jobs

This base pay is above the median for principal software engineering jobs in other US places.

Median: $227K a year
Other jobs in the group: 250

We compare the middle of each posted range. This is base pay as posted. The group does not include this job.