Robot Manipulation R&D Engineer

Job Description

Job Description
Hadrian - Manufacturing the Future

Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

Hadrian’s Robotics team builds hardware and software that powers next-generation manufacturing. We are looking for a Robot Manipulation R&D Engineer to lead the design, development, and deployment of intelligent automation systems for manufacturing environments.

Our mission is to scale Hadrian’s core machining business across multiple factories in the U.S. by building robotic systems that operators, technicians, and systems depend on every day. We move quickly, ship continuously, and turn real factory needs into production-ready products. This role is ideal for engineers passionate about pushing the boundaries of robotic dexterity, perception, and autonomy in real-world industrial applications.

• Develop novel algorithms and system architectures for robotic manipulation, grasping, and assembly in unstructured manufacturing environments.
• Design and implement end-to-end manipulation pipelines integrating perception (e.g., 3D vision), planning, and control.
• Collaborate with mechanical engineers to prototype and iterate on custom end-effectors, sensor mounts, and robotic tooling.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to collect, document, and translate operational needs into detailed technical requirements and interface specifications.
• Support team growth by contributing to hiring, mentoring junior engineers, and establishing technical best practices and workflows.

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 3+ years of hands-on experience in robotic manipulation, control systems, or autonomous systems development.
• Strong proficiency in C++ or Python.
• Proven experience with motion planning, kinematics, and control of robotic arms
• Deep understanding of robot dynamics, force control, and grasp planning.
• Experience with simulation environment and hardware deployment.
• Experience leading cross-disciplinary teams and full product lifecycle ownership.
• Excellent communication and documentation abilities.
• Passionate about advancing manufacturing automation through robotics innovation.

For this role, the target salary range is $160,000 - $260,000 (actual range may vary based on experience).

This is the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to, relevant…