Six Figure Work

Staff Software Engineer in Test

Boston Dynamics

Company websitebostondynamics.com (Boston Dynamics, opens in new tab)

Base salary $102K  to $120K

Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in Waltham, MA

Apply (opens in new tab)

You apply on the employer's own site. Six Figure Work does not handle applications.

  • LocationWaltham, MA
  • WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
  • Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
  • Last checked (1 h ago) · observed since

About this job

Boston Dynamics seeks a highly technical Staff Software Engineer in Test, to test the Atlas Humanoid Robot. In this critical, hands-on role, you will be responsible for ensuring the reliability, safety, and performance of Atlas’s software systems, focusing heavily on metrics based system testing for reliability and performance.


A key quality to be successful in this role is the exceptional ability to context-switch and rapidly acquire technical understanding across diverse domains: from web interfaces and network protocols to robot behavior and ML model validation. If you thrive on learning fast, solving cross-functional problems, and seeing your code directly impact a groundbreaking robot, this role is for you.


Boston Dynamics is a world leader in mobile robots, tackling some of the toughest robotics challenges. For years, our awe-inspiring viral videos on YouTube have shown the world what remarkably capable robots can do. Now we are quickly becoming a recognized leader in automation solutions for industrial applications and warehouse logistics.  


What You’ll Do:


  • Reliability Test & Automation Design: Design, develop, and plan execution to stress-test application resilience, safety, and fault tolerance.
  • Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing: Use physical hardware in the loop to automate testing for various application scenarios.
  • Release Contribution & Reporting: Author comprehensive execution reports to validate milestone readiness and clearly communicate system stability.
  • Process Improvement: Identify bottlenecks and gaps in the SQA process and testing coverage, driving continuous improvement in execution efficiency and reliability.

Required Experience: 


  • 6-8 years of experience in Software QA Engineering, Test Automation, or Software Development, with a history of shipping and supporting product releases.
  • Proven experience in manual and automated testing of complex electromechanical systems (e.g., robotics, autonomous vehicles) including with physical hardware-in-the-loop (HIL).
  • Strong proficiency in test automation with a solid base in Python, C#, or a similar language. 
  • Demonstrated experience with setting up software reliability testing, monitoring and analysis for robotic systems.
  • Expertise in designing comprehensive test plans and executing functional, integration, and regression testing with strong manual rigor.
  • Expertise in Defect Lifecycle Management using defect tracking systems (e.g., Jira) for precise defect reporting, verification, and analysis.
  • Solid understanding of CI/CD practices and experience integrating and monitoring automated tests within continuous integration tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI).

Nice to Have Experience:


  • Experience testing real-time control systems or low-latency teleoperation hardware/software.
  • Familiarity with UI/UX and backend validation for complex workflow sequencing or orchestration applications.
  • Operational familiarity with a Linux development environment (e.g., advanced bash/shell scripting).
  • Experience with Root Cause Analysis on complex, cross-functional system failures.

We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas for this position.


The salary range for this position will be clearly stated in the job posting as required by Massachusetts law. The base pay range for this position is between $102,000 - $120,000. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors including, but not limited to internal equity, job related knowledge, skills and experience. This range represents a good faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting.


Boston Dynamics will never ask you to divulge your personal financial or account information as part of its recruiting process.


#LI-MD1


Source: Boston Dynamics on Workday · View original posting (opens in new tab)

Pay in context

This role's base floor ($102,000) is above 1% of the 412 Software Engineering roles in Massachusetts listed on this site. Their median floor is $150,000; the middle half runs from $131,839 to $172,000.

Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 7, 2026.

This range next to 6 other live Boston Dynamics roles with the nearest advertised base floor
Chart as a table
This range next to 6 other live Boston Dynamics roles with the nearest advertised base floor
RolePublished base
Staff Software Engineer in Test (this listing)$102K - $120K
Senior Treasury Specialist$102K - $135K
Senior Field Application EngineerFrom $101,546
Atlas Controls Reliability, Senior Data Engineer$100K - $140K
Senior Perception Engineer$115K - $135K
Applications/Integration Engineer- RMAC$115K - $130K
Staff Business Operations Project Manager$115K - $130K

Same $100K to $400K scale as every card. All Boston Dynamics roles · How to read the bar

Observed changes

  1. First observed on the employer's board
  2. Began meeting the published-salary criteria
Observed since
Employer-stated posting date
2026-09-25
Where this pay comes from

Location as the employer wrote it: Waltham, MA

The salary range for this position will be clearly stated in the job posting as required by Massachusetts law. The base pay range for this position is between $102,000 - $120,000. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors in

Method
Employer text, read with fixed rules and re-verified
Checked
Rule set
us-base-v2

The pay passage appears in the employer's own job text. Fixed, deterministic rules located it, and the passage below was checked against the stored copy of the posting.

What we verified

  • The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
  • The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
  • The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.

We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.