Software Engineer, Computational Geometry

About the role

SF Bay Area (Palo Alto) · Full-Time · Onsite

ABOUT FOUNDATIONAL

Foundational is building a network of AI-native, autonomous factories for modern contract manufacturing — reshoring critical supply chains so companies can produce high-quality products domestically, quickly, and at competitive cost. Recent breakthroughs in robotics and physical AI have shifted autonomous manufacturing from theoretical to deployable, and we're focused on operationalizing these capabilities at scale during a decisive decade for American industrial leadership.

WHO — WHO THRIVES HERE

At Foundational, we're building with people who want to own something — to do work that matters, in an environment where what you ship is what counts.

The people who thrive here:

- Take ownership before they're asked. They see the gap and close it.

- Operate with a high degree of judgment. We move fast, and good judgment travels farther than a playbook.

- Communicate directly — concise, clear, and candid, especially when stakes are high.

- Hold a high bar for themselves first, then for everyone around them.

- Are genuinely energized by hard problems in physical, real-world environments. Energized — not just interested.

- Stay effective when things are ambiguous, changing, or under pressure. That's the job.

This is a place for people who want to build something that has never existed before and leave a clear mark on it.

MISSION

We are looking for a Software Engineer specializing in Computational Geometry to design, build, and optimize the core geometric engines driving our automated manufacturing platforms. In this role, you will bridge abstract spatial algorithms with physical machine operations, converting complex 3D models into accurate toolpaths, process simulations, and machine instructions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

CORE GEOMETRY & ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT

- 3D Geometry Processing: Design, build, and maintain production-grade pipelines for manipulating diverse 3D representations, including boundary representations (B-Reps), NURBS surfaces, triangular meshes, and point clouds.

- Spatial & Numerical Algorithms: Implement robust algorithms for spatial partitioning/indexing, ray-mesh intersections, visibility analysis, collision detection, feature recognition, and surface fitting.

- Manufacturing & Toolpath Generation: Convert complex part geometry into reliable manufacturing instructions, motion trajectories, simulations, and CNC toolpaths.

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE & AI INTEGRATION

- Production Engineering: Architect high-performance, modular C++/Python/Rust libraries with strict numerical robustness, unit testing, and continuous performance optimization.

- Internal Tooling & Visualization: Build internal spatial visualization and debugging tools to analyze multi-dimensional geometric data and process outputs.