Principal Robotics Engineer — Systems & Hardware

a16z-speedrun; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

a16z-speedrun is seeking an versatile robotics engineer to make complex physical systems work across software, mechanical, and electrical domains on the Munari platform in San Francisco. You will assemble, integrate, and validate robots, sensors, and control interfaces to enable repeatable experiments.

You will build simulation environments, data-collection tools, and hardware-in-the-loop tests, collaborating with design partners to tackle real-world, last-mile challenges.

Qualifications

• You have built, integrated, repaired, or deployed robotic/electromechanical systems.
• You can write useful software in C++, Python, Rust, or similar language.
• You are comfortable with ROS 2, robot kinematics, controls, calibration, sensors, and hardware interfaces.
• You can move between terminal, oscilloscope, CAD model, 3D printer, machine shop, and toolbox.
• You have strong mechanical or electrical intuition and debugging discipline.
• You enjoy broad ownership and can handle incomplete docs and unfamiliar hardware.
• You have built projects crossing disciplinary boundaries and can explain your ownership.

Responsibilities

• Bring new robot embodiments into the Munari platform, including arms, mobile manipulators, and industrial systems.
• Integrate cameras, grippers, force-torque sensors, tactile sensors, motor controllers, teleoperation systems, and external compute.
• Build drivers, adapters, calibration systems, robot descriptions, control interfaces, and data-collection tooling.
• Create reference tasks, evaluation environments, teleoperation workflows, and repeatable demonstrations.
• Design and fabricate fixtures, mounts, enclosures, test rigs, wiring, and rapid hardware modifications.
• Build simulation environments, hardware-in-the-loop tests, digital twins, and fault-injection systems.
• Develop physical benchmarks for failure detection, recovery, safety, and policy evaluation.
• Maintain a high-velocity robotics lab to keep experiments reproducible.
• Work with early design partners to integrate robots and solve last-mile problems.

Skills

C++

Python

Rust

ROS 2

Kinematics

Controls

Calibration

Sensors

Hardware interfaces

Tools

SolidWorks

Onshape

Fusion 360

Isaac Sim

MuJoCo

Job description

a16z-speedrun is seeking an versatile robotics engineer to make complex physical systems work across software, mechanical, and electrical domains on the Munari platform in San Francisco. You will assemble, integrate, and validate robots, sensors, and control interfaces to enable repeatable experiments.

You will build simulation environments, data-collection tools, and hardware-in-the-loop tests, collaborating with design partners to tackle real-world, last-mile challenges.