Controls Software Engineer - Robotics & Automation

GCS Recruitment; Reading (MA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

GCS Recruitment is seeking a Controls Software Engineer who is passionate about software development in a robotics and automation environment. You will be integral to optimizing and maintaining a large fleet of automated machines, addressing bugs, and enhancing throughput.

The ideal candidate has a strong background in controls, proficiency in C or C++, and a hands-on approach to working with hardware. This position offers flexibility for mid-level to seasoned engineers keen on making a tangible impact.

Qualifications

• Experience in writing software for physical hardware control.
• Proficiency in modern programming languages like C, C++, or Rust.
• Hands-on experience with motion control and robotics.

Responsibilities

• Debugging control software on deployed machines.
• Enhancing performance in servo, motion, and state-management layers.
• Documenting changes and creating runbooks for safe deployments.

Skills

Controls experience

C/C++

Software development

Structured Text

Linux

Tools

CODESYS

EtherCAT

Job description

Are you a software engineer who likes your code to move real machines? A major name in robotics and automation is building out the team behind one of the largest robotic deployments anywhere - thousands of automated workcells running across high-volume operations - and is looking for a Controls Software Engineer to help keep that fleet fast, stable, and improving.

This isn't a traditional PLC seat. It's a software role that happens to live in a controls world. Most of the team came up through C and C++ and learned the control platform on the job - so what matters here is real software-engineering ability paired with hands‑on experience around machines, motion, and hardware.

What you’ll work on

• Hunting down and fixing bugs and faults in control software running across a large fleet of deployed machines
• Pushing rate and throughput improvements through the servo, motion, and state‑management layers
• Getting hands‑on with hardware in the lab - servos, drives, sensors, vision, and conveyance
• Tracing problems through telemetry, logs, and alarms, and owning fixes from root cause to rollout
• Writing the change documentation and runbooks that keep fleet‑wide deployments safe

The live system is written in Structured Text (CODESYS) on Linux‑based industrial PCs, with a move to modern C++ already in flight. It's a big, established codebase - strong software instincts matter as much as controls knowledge.

The two things that really matter

1. Genuine controls experience - you’ve written software that drives physical hardware: machine control, motion/servo, robotics, or embedded real‑time systems.
2. Strong software development in a modern lower‑level language - C, C++, Rust, or Structured Text - with the discipline to work cleanly inside a large, mature codebase.

Nice to have

• Structured Text on any platform (CODESYS, TwinCAT, Allen‑Bradley, Siemens)
• Embedded, real‑time, or industrial software background
• Motion/servo control, robotics, or pick‑and‑place / Cartesian workcell experience
• System‑level Linux; EtherCAT or other industrial fieldbus
• Experience keeping production or large‑scale systems running

Level

Open from strong mid‑level engineers (3-5 years) who can own their work, through to seasoned engineers ready to plug straight in. The blend of controls exposure and software ability is what counts - not a specific title.

GCS is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.