Founding Robotics Engineer at Merista

Jack & Jill; Barcelona; On-site; EUR 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Merista, a Barcelona-based robotics startup, is seeking a Founding Robotics Engineer reporting to the CTO to own the space between intent and motion. You will design learned manipulation policies, develop real-time execution layers, and manage safety interfaces for robots processing 1,000 meals per hour.

This role defines the core architecture for industrial-scale food automation. Lead with experience in real-time robot control, imitation learning, and safe multi-robot coordination in a

Qualifications

• Several years of experience in real-time robot control and manipulators, especially with contact-rich tasks using impedance control and force/torque sensing.

Responsibilities

• Develop and evaluate learned manipulation policies for the fleet, balancing imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and simulation.
• Architect the execution layer with trajectory generation, force-domain control, and real-time loops for 6-second cycles on local GPU compute.
• Design robust multi-robot coordination and remote-operation recovery paths for high-throughput factory environments.

Skills

Real-time control

Impedance control

Force/torque sensing

Imitation learning

Behavior cloning

VLAs

State machine design

Tools

ROS 2

Real-time Linux

Job description

Job Title

Founding Robotics Engineer

Salary

Not Disclosed

Company Description

Merista is a Barcelona-based robotics startup founded by the core team behind REMY Robotics, which was acquired in 2025 after operating 10 robot-run kitchens. Merista is now deploying autonomous robots to food production lines, automating manual portioning and placement tasks with high-precision, real-time sensing and learned manipulation policies.

Job Description

As the founding robotics hire reporting to the CTO, you will own the entire technical space between intent and motion. You will design learned manipulation policies, develop real-time execution layers, and manage safety interfaces for robots processing 1,000 meals per hour. This is a critical role defining the core architecture for industrial-scale food automation.

Location

Barcelona, Spain

Why this role is remarkable

• Join a proven founding team that spent seven years scaling REMY Robotics to 15,000 operating hours across five cities prior to its successful 2025 acquisition.
• Solve complex, contact-rich manipulation challenges involving deformable objects and dynamic conveyor tracking in a high-speed, fenceless collaborative environment.
• Enjoy high-impact ownership of the robotics stack, from imitation learning and simulation trade-offs to local GPU inference and ISO-certified safety integration.

What You Will Do

• Develop and evaluate learned manipulation policies, determining the optimal balance between imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and simulation for the fleet.
• Architect the execution layer, including trajectory generation, force-domain control, and the real-time loops required for 6-second cycle times on local GPU compute.
• Design robust multi-robot coordination systems and remote-operation recovery paths that ensure 99.9% completion rates in demanding factory environments.

The ideal candidate

• Several years of experience in real-time robot control and manipulators, specifically with contact-rich tasks using impedance control and force/torque sensing.
• Deep working knowledge of imitation learning, behavior cloning, and VLAs, with the ability to defend policy outputs against strict certification and takt clocks.
• Strong systems judgment regarding state machines and fault handling, with preferred experience in ROS 2, real-time Linux, and European machinery safety regulations.