Contract Robotics Engineer: Legged Locomotion Boulder/Denver, CO (remote-friendly) · Contract →

Synteric Robotics; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Synteric Robotics in Boulder/Denver, CO is seeking a Contract Robotics Engineer to own the gait of our hexapod and push from basic walking to a robust controller that handles uneven crawl-space terrain.

You will collaborate with a CU Boulder robotics lab and a small engineering team, work on milestones, and bring real-world hardware experience from simulation to hardware.

Qualifications

• Built a walking controller for a real legged robot (not just in simulation).
• Comfortable with physics simulators (MuJoCo, Isaac, PyBullet) and Python.

Responsibilities

• Own the gait for the hexapod and advance from basic walking to a robust controller for real crawl-space terrain.
• Collaborate with a CU Boulder robotics lab and a small engineering team handling sensors, mapping and simulation models.
• Work in milestone-based development with milestones defined collaboratively.

Skills

Walking controller on real leggedrobot

Reinforcement learning for locomotion

Hardware integration

Tools

MuJoCo

Isaac

PyBullet

Python

Job description

Contract Robotics Engineer: Legged Locomotion

Synteric Robotics · Boulder/Denver, CO (remote-friendly) · Contract

About us

Synteric Robotics is a CU Boulder spinout building small, autonomous legged robots that go where people can’t: crawl spaces, attics and other tight, dirty spaces. Our six-legged prototype is walking, and restoration companies are lined up to field-test it. Now we need it to walk well.

The role

You’ll own the gait. You’ll take our hexapod from basic walking to a robust controller that handles real crawl-space terrain: uneven dirt, rocks, concrete footers and loose plastic sheeting. You’ll work alongside a CU Boulder robotics lab and a small engineering team handling sensors, mapping and the simulation model. Work is milestone-based, and we’ll define the milestones together.

What we’re looking for

• You’ve built a walking controller and run it on a real legged robot, not just in simulation. It can be learned or model-based.
• You’re comfortable in a physics simulator (MuJoCo, Isaac, PyBullet or similar) and with Python.

Nice to have

• Reinforcement learning for locomotion
• Experience getting simulation results to hold up on hardware
• Multi-legged robots (quadruped counts)
• Hobby- or servo-grade actuators like Dynamixel

Wish list

• Rough-terrain or “blind” (no-camera) walking
• Deploying policies on NVIDIA Jetson or other edge hardware
• Startup or contract experience
• Based in Colorado

Details

• Contract, 40 hours/week, starting November 2026
• Grad students, postdocs and recent grads are welcome