Lead Robotics Engineer, Insectoid Manipulation Systems

Galactic Resource Advancement Mechanism Technologies Corporation; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

GRAM is seeking a hands-on robotics engineer to lead manipulation across task planning, sensing, and control for insectoid platforms in San Francisco. You will define the architecture, integrate learned policies, and ensure robust, production-quality software on real hardware.

You will advance planning, perception, and actuation in a cross-stack environment, mentoring engineers and driving durable solutions through repeated physical testing and regression analysis.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in robotics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated ownership of architecture and technical direction for a deployed manipulation system spanning planning, sensing, control, monitoring, and recovery.
• Strong C++ and Python skills, with a robotics framework such as ROS 2, Drake, MoveIt, or Pinocchio.
• Built and deployed a closed-loop manipulation capability on a physical robot with measurable results.
• Led a failure-driven redesign separating planning, perception, control, and hardware causes, with a durable correction.

Responsibilities

• Set the manipulation architecture and technical direction across task planning, sensing, learned-policy integration, contact reasoning, monitoring, recovery, and execution.
• Design manipulation behaviors for contact-rich tasks, including contact selection, constrained motion, force regulation, and recovery.
• Integrate and evaluate learned manipulation policies through the full sensing, control, monitoring, and recovery stack.
• Implement production-quality planning and execution software in C++ and Python for real-time operation on insectoids.
• Lead cross-stack design reviews and resolve tradeoffs spanning sensing, control, actuation, interfaces, and mechanical constraints.
• Build task-level monitors that detect loss of contact, mismatch, saturation, obstruction, and unsuccessful execution.
• Define hardware experiments, metrics and regression tests for completion rate, cycle time, force accuracy, recovery, and failure modes.
• Analyze unsuccessful trials and convert causes into algorithm, sensing, controller, or mechanical changes.

Education

Bachelor's degree in robotics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related field

Tools

ROS 2

Drake

MoveIt

Pinocchio

C++

Python

Job description

GRAM is seeking a hands-on robotics engineer to lead manipulation across task planning, sensing, and control for insectoid platforms in San Francisco. You will define the architecture, integrate learned policies, and ensure robust, production-quality software on real hardware.

You will advance planning, perception, and actuation in a cross-stack environment, mentoring engineers and driving durable solutions through repeated physical testing and regression analysis.