Senior Robotics Engineer, Controls

ABOUT THE ROLE Join a small engineering team developing autonomous systems in the defense technology sector. As a senior individual contributor, you will own the precision motion controls stack, from control-loop architecture and state estimation to integration and validation on real hardware. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Design and tune precision pointing and tracking control loops, including closed-loop operation from sensor input to actuator commands at hundreds of hertz. - Develop state estimation and sensor fusion using IMU, encoder, and vision feedback. - Identify and model gimbal, mount, and actuator dynamics, and compensate for resonance, backlash, friction, saturation, and other nonlinearities. - Build and maintain controls simulation and hardware-in-the-loop test infrastructure to validate designs and reduce the sim-to-real gap. - Integrate controls with tracking systems and characterize performance on physical hardware in laboratory and field settings. - Document controls architecture, tuning approaches, and engineering standards. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - At least 4 years of robotics experience, including hands-on design and tuning of closed-loop controllers on motion hardware such as servo drives, brushless motors, encoders, and IMUs. - Strong grounding in classical and state-space control, including LQR and MPC, with experience applying control methods to physical systems. - Practical state-estimation experience, such as Kalman, EKF, UKF, or complementary filters, and sensor fusion on hardware. - Experience with system identification, frequency-domain tuning, resonance characterization, and real-time control-loop latency and jitter. - Modern C++ for real-time control, plus Python or MATLAB/Simulink for modeling, simulation, and analysis. - Experience validating simulations against real hardware and working across mechanical, electrical, and software disciplines. - Background in precision motion, gimbals, target tracking, aerospace, or other related control systems is valuable. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Base salary: $180,000 to $200,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. LOCATION On-site in San Francisco, California.