Lead Robotics Engineer

Proto-Town; Lockhart (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Proto-Town is building a legged quadruped robot that carries a human rider, starting from scratch. As Lead Robotics Engineer you would own the machine's architecture, actuation strategy, prototype hardware, and the locomotion control stack.

The role spans mechanical design, motor control, and power electronics, requiring hands-on integration across boundaries to deliver a cohesive system. You should have shipped high-power motion hardware and a track record in EV or robotics powertrains, with

Qualifications

• Experience shipping high-power motion hardware you designed yourself.
• Background in EV or e-mobility powertrain work is a plus.
• Fluency in real-time firmware development and control of motors and actuators.

Responsibilities

• Own the machine architecture, actuation strategy, prototype hardware, and locomotion control stack.
• Collaborate across mechanical design, motor control, and power electronics to deliver integrated system.
• Lead design decisions to ensure reliability under sustained load.

Skills

High-power electronics

Motor control

Actuation design

Embedded real-time systems

C++

Python

CAN/EtherCAT

Robotics simulation

Tools

Embedded firmware tools

Power electronics design tools

Thermal design analysis

Job description

Lead Robotics Engineer - Legged Systems

The role

We are building a legged quadruped robot that carries a human rider, starting from scratch. There is no platform to modify, no reference design to scale up, and no prior program here to inherit. You would be the technical owner of the machine as it comes into existence: architecture, actuation strategy, prototype hardware, and the locomotion control stack.

What we're looking for

The center of this role is mechatronics: you work across mechanical design, motor control, and power electronics without handing off at the boundaries

• High-power electronics: Multi-kilowatt DC bus architecture, motor drive and inverter design or deep integration, battery pack and BMS selection, and the thermal design that keeps all of it alive under sustained load.

• Motor control: Field-oriented control, torque control, encoder and current sensing, and real-time firmware on embedded targets.

• Actuation: High torque-density drivetrain design: motors, gearboxes, backdrivability, and the tradeoffs between them.

• Fluency in the practical stack: C++ and Python, a real-time control target, CAN or EtherCAT, and a simulator you trust and know the limits of.

Backgrounds that tend to fit

We are looking for people with experience in EV and e-mobility powertrain work, motor drive and inverter design, industrial servo and actuator manufacturing, or legged robotics. What matters is that you have shipped high-power motion hardware you designed yourself.