Senior Robotics Controls Engineer

Senior Robotics Controls Engineer

Compensation: $150K–$250K base + equity (no bonus)

Location:

South San Francisco, CA

Work Policy: 5 days/week in-office

Sponsorship:
Visa transfers supported (not open to OPT candidates)

Stage:
Seed-stage surgical robotics company | $14M raised

Hiring Target: 1

We are building autonomous surgical robots designed to dramatically shorten the learning curve for complex procedures. Our systems combine robotics, motion planning, computer vision, and real-time control to execute surgical steps with speed and precision.

This is a high-priority hire. The team is moving quickly and eager to engage strong candidates immediately.

• Work on cutting‑edge robotic control systems with real‑world clinical impact.
• Own motion planning and control algorithms on a production robotic platform.
• Join a well‑funded seed‑stage company with commercial traction.
• High autonomy and direct collaboration with founders.
• Competitive base salary plus meaningful equity.
• Relocation assistance ($5K–$10K).

• Develop and implement control systems and motion planning for a surgical robotics platform.
• Design algorithms for trajectory planning, behavior planning, and robotic actuation.
• Work on state estimation, inverse kinematics, and Model Predictive Control (MPC).
• Integrate 2D/3D sensor inputs (Lidar, cameras, TOF, IMUs) into control logic.
• Contribute to real‑time, low‑latency robotic systems with high accuracy requirements.
• Collaborate closely with hardware, ML, and UI teams to deliver production‑ready robotic capabilities.

• Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, Engineering, Computer Science, or related field (strong academic background required).
• 3+ years of robotics engineering or closely related experience.
• Deep understanding of control systems (linear and non‑linear).
• Strong software development skills in C++ and/or Python.
• Experience with ROS or ROS
  2.
• Startup mindset: high ownership, urgency, and comfort working in fast‑paced environments.

• Master’s degree.
• Experience in autonomous vehicles or aerospace (Guidance, Navigation & Control, embedded flight control).
• Knowledge of surgical robotics systems.
• Experience with Model Predictive Control (MPC), system identification, and advanced control theory.
• Background in robotics software engineering involving object tracking, sensor fusion, or real‑time systems.

• Manufacturing Controls engineer background (industrial/PLC‑focused).
• Primarily MATLAB‑only experience without production‑grade software development.

• Robotics Controls
• Control Theory
• Flight Controls
• State Estimation
• Inverse Kinematics
• Model Predictive Control (MPC)
• Behavior Planning
• Trajectory Planning
• System Identification
• Embedded flight control software

• Has the candidate owned and taken a project all the way to production?
• What was the most challenging problem they have solved?
• Is the candidate available to travel up to once per month?
• Is the candidate comfortable viewing live surgical procedures onsite?