Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience with software development.
• 7 years of experience working with embedded operating systems.
• 5 years of experience in a technical leadership role.
• 5 years of experience in a people management or team leadership role.
  
  

Preferred qualifications:

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science or related technical field.
• Experience leading engineering organizations through full consumer electronics lifecycle, including NTI for transitioning prototypes to mass production.
• Experience communicating technical goals to executive leadership and influencing cross-functional roadmaps.
• Experience in low-level systems (RTOS or Linux/Android kernel), power management, thermal throttling, and hardware-software co-design, and experience in sensor fusion, computer vision pipelines, or low-latency graphics architecture.
• Experience collaborating with internal/external silicon vendors to define requirements for SoCs, DSPs, or custom accelerators optimized for AI Glasses.
• Expertise balancing emerging hardware needs with platform architectural health.
  
  

About The Job

The Android XR Platform Team is the architectural backbone for Google’s spatial computing future. We are strategically aligned to develop a unified software platform that scales across the full hardware spectrum, from high-fidelity headsets to next-generation AI Glasses. Our mission is to bridge the gap between low-level embedded systems and ambient AI, delivering the common core technologies that ensure performance, stability, and security are built into the foundation of every device. In this role, you will be responsible for defining this technical roadmap and building an engineering organization capable of solving the unique power, thermal, and latency challenges of wearable AI, ultimately ensuring architectural consistency across our entire XR hardware portfolio.

As a Senior Staff Software Engineer, you will be the primary architect and organizational leader for our Next-Generation Glasses software stack. You will lead the New Technology Introductions (NTI) process, transitioning hardware concepts into production-ready software platforms. Your work will bridge the gap between early-stage silicon prototypes and high-volume consumer products, creating the reference designs that will define the industry standard for wearable AI.

For decades, the computing revolution has reshaped our world driven by

breakthroughs in compute, connectivity, mobile, and now, AI. Google's XR team is at the forefront of the next major leap – the convergence of AI and XR. This is more than just new devices – it's about reimagining how we interact with the world around us. We're building a future where lightweight XR devices like smart glasses and headsets pair with helpful AI to augment human intelligence, offering personalized, conversational, and contextually aware experiences.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $262,000-$365,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google .

Responsibilities

• Recruit, mentor, and manage a high-performing engineering organization. Build a culture capable of navigating the ambiguity of NTI while delivering stable, production-grade system software.
• Lead the software strategy for NTI phases, ensuring that emerging hardware is integrated into the Android XR platform with stability and performance benchmarks.
• Drive design and implementation of a unified software platform optimized for the unique constraints of AI Glasses, focusing on ultra-low power consumption, thermal management, and low-latency sensor fusion.
• Lead long-term technical strategy for glasses reference designs, establishing the gold standard for hardware-software integration. Ensure designs align with the Android XR ecosystem while pushing the boundaries of ambient AI.
• Be a technical stakeholder in partnerships with Silicon, Hardware, and AI Research teams and co-design systems that maximize hardware capabilities. Maintain high standards for security, stability, and high-performance system software.
  
  
  

Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form .