Principal Motion Planning Engineer

Magnendo; Newton (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Magnendo Corp. in Newton, MA is seeking a Principal Motion Planning Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and development of collision-aware motion planning software for a medical-grade robot arm in variable clinical environments.

As the first hire in this domain, you will shape the subsystem, drive high-performance implementations, collaborate with Systems Engineers, and guide a small team toward FDA-approved product readiness.

Qualifications

• 9+ years of experience delivering on collision-aware motion planning and robotics software.
• Strong fundamentals in math, physics, and robotics (kinematics, dynamics, geometry).
• Experience with medical device software or regulated development is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Be our technical expert for collision-aware motion planning.
• Own the architecture, implementation, and system documentation of the motion planning subsystem.
• Implement high-performance software achieving core metrics for the application.
• Evolve and troubleshoot motion planning as the system moves from prototype to production.
• Evaluate and select applicable third-party libraries and tools.
• Write clean, testable code and document designs for cross-functional audiences.
• Help define coding styles, standards, and development processes for high-reliability software.
• Collaborate with Systems Engineers on requirements, test plans, and reviews; support risk analysis and investigations.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to other engineers in the domain.

Skills

Motion planning

Robotics

C++

Python

Real-time systems

Collision checking

Kinematics & dynamics

Communication

Tools

Drake

cuRobo

Job description

Every minute matters in stroke treatment. Magnendo is developing robotic technology to make life-saving endovascular procedures faster, safer, and more accessible. By combining advanced robotics, magnetic navigation, and intelligent software, we are tackling one of the most technically demanding challenges in healthcare while aiming to expand access to advanced stroke care for patients around the world. Join us in shaping the future of endovascular intervention.

We're looking for a Principal Motion Planning Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and development of collision‑aware motion planning software for a medical grade robot arm operating in a complex and highly variable clinical environment. As our first hire in this domain, you will be a critical part of the small, dedicated team we are building to bring our breakthrough technology from prototype to FDA‑approved product.

You Will:

• Be our technical expertfor all things relating to collision‑aware motion planning
• Own the architecture, implementation, and system documentation of our motion planningsubsystem
• Implement custom software that achieves high performance across key metrics for our application
• Evolve and troubleshoot our motion planningsoftware to address complex real‑world circumstances as our system moves from prototype to production
• Evaluate and select applicable 3 rd party libraries and tools
• Write clean, testable code that can be maintained and extended; document your designs clearly for cross‑functional audiences
• Help define and document coding styles, standards, and software development process and that reflects best practices for modern high reliability software development
• Collaborate with Systems Engineers to define and review requirements, test plans, and acceptance criteria; support risk analysis, design reviews, and root‑cause investigations
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to other engineers in your domain

You are:

• 9+ years of experienceanddemonstratedability to deliver on the responsibilities described above (can be a combination of deep graduate research and industry experience)
• Strong math, physics, and robotics fundamentals (forward/inverse kinematics and dynamics, computational geometry)
• Expert in motion planning algorithms, including sampling‑based methods (e.g., RRT, PRM), and trajectory optimization techniques (e.g., CHOMP, STOMP, TrajOpt)
• Good understanding of collision checking methods and collision model representations
• Proven ability to build production‑grade systems that achieve highly reliable performance in real‑world applications
• Strong proficiency in C++ and/or Python, with a firm grasp of real‑time performance considerations, memory management, and software design patterns
• A good collaborator who understands the importance of clear communication and humility
• Able to clearly convey complex tradeoffs to cross‑functional teams and external partners
• Experience with3 rd party motion planning libraries such as Drake and cuRobo
• Experienced with scientific/high‑performance edge compute platforms, able to benchmark and optimize CPU/GPU pipelines, memory access and alignment, caching, latency etc.
• Experience in the medical device industry, ideally with interventional or robotic systems, working knowledge of medical device software requirements
• Experience with autonomous systems, exposure to sensor integration and perception, including RGB, depth cameras, and point cloud processing, SLAM, or object detection as it pertains to reactive and perception‑driven motion planning
• Experience developing software under a regulatory framework such as medical device (e.g., IEC 62304, IEC 60601), functional safety (IEC 61508, ISO 13849), or automotive (ISO 26262)
• Experience developing software under a regulatory framework such as medical device (IEC 60601), functional safety (IEC TBD), or automotive (IEC TBD)

Magnendo Corp. is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applications without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable law. We also participate in E‑Verify. Employment offers are contingent upon successful completion of employment authorization verification (Form I‑9) through E‑Verify after hire.