Atlas Senior Controls Reliability Engineer

Boston Dynamics; Waltham (MA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Annual bonus

Job summary

Boston Dynamics is scaling its Atlas robotics fleet and seeks a Controls Reliability Engineer to bridge field operations and engineering. You will lead investigations into complex control and hardware issues, analyze robot logs, and develop automated diagnostic scripts in Python and C++ to prevent failures.

Join a hands-on role that combines hardware interaction in our Waltham lab with software tooling to improve fleet reliability and diagnostics across the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, ME/EE, CS, or related field.
• 1–4 years of professional robotics, hardware reliability (SRE), or high-level technical support for complex electromechanical systems.
• Proven experience debugging complex systems using log analytics and on-robot diagnostic tools.
• Proficiency in C++ and Python for system analysis and tool development.

Responsibilities

• Advanced Controls Debugging: lead investigations for complex controls and behavioral issues escalated from Fleet Operations.
• Analytics, Testing & Reproduction: analyze telemetry for anomalies in control stability and sensor performance; write unit tests and improved detection logic.
• Software & Tooling Development: develop automated Python diagnostic scripts and C++ utilities and unit tests.
• Scalable Diagnostics: maintain automated diagnostic suites and formalize knowledge into Playbooks for field teams.
• Technical Reporting: distill complex failure modes into high-signal reports for senior engineers.

Skills

Controls theory

Embedded systems

Python for data analysis

Technical reporting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, ME/EE, CS, or related field

Tools

C++

Python

Bazel

Google Test

SQL

Snowflake

Looker

Apache Airflow

Job description

The MissionBoston Dynamics is scaling the Atlas humanoid fleet to push the limits of generalist robotics. As we transition to a large-scale research fleet, the Controls Reliability Team serves as a Technical Force Multiplier. In this role, you will be the bridge between high-volume field operations and Engineering, resolving complex system failures and building the diagnostic software infrastructure that enables our entire organization to scale reliably.What You’ll DoAdvanced Controls Debugging: Lead investigations for complex controls and behavioral issues escalated from Fleet Operations. Perform deep-dive analysis of robot logs to evaluate the health and function of electric actuators, troubleshoot system faults, and resolve failures in automated health checks.Analytics, Testing & Reproduction: Analyze telemetry for anomalies in control stability and sensor performance. Write unit tests and improved detection logic for reproducible failure modes.Software & Tooling Development: Develop automated Python diagnostic scripts and C++ utilities and unit tests to transition the fleet from manual troubleshooting to proactive, automated health monitoring.Scalable Diagnostics: Maintain automated diagnostic suites to provide actionable feedback for hardware and software teams. Formalize technical knowledge into standardized "Playbooks" to empower field teams to resolve known issues independently.Technical Reporting: Distill complex failure modes into high-signal reports for senior Controls Engineers, providing pre-analyzed data and clear failure hypotheses.Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with hardware and software specialists to verify fixes and ensure field data directly influences future robot iterations.Who You AreThe "Robotics Detective": You are driven to trace failures from high-level behavior code down to low-level firmware or electromechanical root causes.Technical Expert: Proficient in C++ for real-time system debugging and Python for building data analysis tools and automated scripts.Hands-On Generalist: You have a strong understanding of controls theory, electric motors, and embedded systems, and you enjoy working directly with complex hardware in a lab environment.Clear Communicator: You excel at translating technical "noise" into structured reports and procedures for diverse engineering partners.Technically Fearless: You are motivated by solving challenging problems in novel domains of robotics, and are excited about learning on a daily basis.Minimum QualificationsBachelor’s degree in Robotics, ME/EE, Computer Science, or a related field.1–4 years of professional experience in robotics, hardware reliability (SRE), or high-level technical support for complex electromechanical systems.Proven experience debugging complex systems using log analytics and on-robot diagnostic tools.Proficiency in C++ and Python for system analysis and tool development.Ability to work onsite at our Waltham facility for direct hardware interaction.Nice to HaveExperience with data analysis at-scale, specifically in SQL and Python (Pandas, Numpy).Familiarity with data visualization tools, like Snowflake and Looker.Experience with Bazel, Google Test infrastructure, Google Cloud Platform and Apache AirflowThe base pay range for this position is between $100,000 to $120,000 annually. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors including, but not limited to internal equity, job related knowledge, skills and experience. This range represents a good faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Boston Dynamics offers a generous Benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401(k), paid time off and an annual bonus structure. Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer for employment.