Lead Engineer/Sr. Research Engineer (10-01556)

Motion Control; San Antonio (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX leads robotics development for government and commercial clients. You will work on advanced automation, perception, path planning, and hardware integration across diverse robotic platforms.

Role includes contributing to proposals, leading mechanical, electromechanical, and autonomy work, mentoring staff, and delivering robust robotic solutions to clients in a multidisciplinary setting.

Qualifications

• Requires a degree in Robotics, Mechatronics, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 10–15 years of relevant industry experience with mechanical engineering and design and project leadership.
• 4+ years solid modeling and high-level programming in C++ or Python.
• Robot Operating System (ROS, ROS2) experience.
• Valid/clear driver’s license.

Responsibilities

• Develop hardware and software solutions for robotic and automated systems and provide technical leadership to project teams.
• Develop technical requirements for new projects.
• Design, build, hardware integration, debug, and implementation at client facilities.
• Communicate effectively with internal teams, clients, and partners.
• Coordinate tasks with project managers and engineering staff.
• Provide leadership to project teams to meet organizational objectives.

Skills

Solid modeling

C++/Python programming

ROS/ROS2

Driver's license

Education

Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in Robotics or related engineering

Tools

Solidworks

C++

Python

Job description

Southwest Research Institute

Location: San Antonio, TX

Description

Who We Are:
The Robotics Department develops industrial robotic, automated, and autonomous solutions for government and commercial clients across a wide range of industries.

Objectives Of This Role

• Contribute to building advanced capabilities, technologies, and solutions in the field of industrial robotics and automation that solve real-world challenges faced by our customers.
• Support novel development of optimization-based path planning, perception systems, surface reconstruction, hardware integration, and testing on industrial robots, mobile manipulators, and custom automation hardware.
• Contribute expertise to technical proposals for novel robotics and automation capabilities.
• Serve as a technical or project lead for mechanical, electromechanical, controls, and autonomy for robotic platforms.
• Ideate novel solutions and mentor junior robotics staff.
• Establish a substantial and consistent record of successful proposals and/or extensive business development.

Major Duties & Responsibilities

Daily And Monthly Responsibilities

• Develop novel hardware and software solutions for robotic and automated systems and provide technical leadership to project teams.
• Develop technical requirements for new projects.
• Development tasks include: design, build, hardware integration, debug, and implementation at client facilities.
• Communicate effectively with internal team, external clients, and industry partners.
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to develop technical solutions, and coordinate technical tasks with project managers and other engineering staff.
• Coordinate individual performance goals and objectives set by the organization as well as provide leadership to project teams to help realize organizational objectives.

Requirements

Minimum Education & Experience

• Requires a Bachelors, Masters or a PhD in Robotics, Mechatronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or other robotics-related engineering degree.
• 10-15 years: Relevant industry experience with mechanical engineering and design including technical team or project leadership at an organization such as a manufacturer, robotics company, robotics integrator, etc.
• 4+ years: Solid modeling (Solidworks or similar) and high-level programming software skills (C++ or Python required).
• Robot Operating System (ROS, ROS2) experience.
• A valid/clear driver’s license is required.

Special Requirements

Applicant selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Applicant must be a U.S. citizen.