Staff Robotics Engineer / Founding Robotics Engineer

Title: Roboticist/Founding Robotics Engineer/Staff Robotics Engineer

Duration: Full Time/Direct Hire

Compensation: Base Salary $150K - $250K + Equity (0.5-1%)

Location: On-site in New York (Relocation Assistance Available)

Work Authorization: US Citizen or Green Card

Openings: 1

Why candidates should join:

1. The client builds AI-powered autonomous manufacturing systems for the defense industrial base. They're solving critical problems in US manufacturing with cutting-edge robotics and vision-language action models.
2. Just closed their pre-seed round and are backed by experienced defense tech founders from Vanavar. You'll work at the bleeding edge of robotics technology, where best practices are still being defined week over week.
3. Staff Robotics Engineer role owning the entire robotic stack from programming robotic arms to deploying in real manufacturing environments. $150-250k base plus 0.5-1% equity with flexibility for the right candidate.

Hiring manager Notes:

Required:

1. 5+ years of experience in robotics development, focusing on SLAM and motion planning.
2. Hands- on experience programming robotic arms in production.
3. Proficiency in C++ and Python for robotics.
4. Low- ego, mission- driven, and passionate about their craft.

Must Have:

1. Deep experience with SLAM and/or motion planning algorithms.

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2. Deep, hands-on experience with ROS/ROS2.
3. Master's or PhD in Robotics, CS, or related field.

Nice to Have:

1. Shipped a robotic product from concept to deployment.
2. Degree from a top- tier university for robotics.
3. Experience with sensor fusion and computer vision.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Robotics Engineer (Roboticist) with ~5+ years of experience to own the development and programming of our robotic systems from the ground up. This person will be a core member of our founding engineering team, responsible for making our robots actually work in real-world manufacturing environments, not just in simulation. You’ll operate with high ownership, moving quickly and iterating in tight loops to bring advanced robotics algorithms and emerging approaches like vision-language-action models into production.

This is a highly hands-on role focused on building reliable, safe, and scalable robotic systems that can run continuously in high-stakes environments. You’ll be solving fundamentally hard problems across motion, control, and system integration, helping define how autonomous manufacturing systems are built from first principles.

What will you be doing?

• Own the end-to-end programming of robotic arms, translating high-level goals into reliable real-world behavior
• Design and deploy robotics systems that tightly integrate hardware, perception, and control algorithms
• Build and optimize core robotics capabilities, including motion planning, SLAM, and system control
• Develop control systems, inverse kinematics, and safety-critical logic to ensure robust operation around expensive machinery
• Lead architectural decisions across the robotics stack, from software frameworks to hardware integration
• Own the sim-to-real pipeline, ensuring models and algorithms transfer effectively into production environments
• Prototype, test, and iterate rapidly on real systems, using performance data to continuously improve reliability and efficiency