Robotics Lead

Atoms; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 255,000 - 322,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

401(k)

Paid Holidays

Paid Parental Leave

Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan

Job summary

Atoms in San Francisco seeks a Robotics Lead to provide technical leadership across perception, planning, and control for our autonomous vehicle stack. You’ll define architecture, drive integration across AI, perception, planning and vehicle systems, and mentor engineers toward production deployments.

Ideal candidates have deep robotics expertise, real-time software experience, and a track record of taking autonomy capabilities from development to fielded systems in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Significant experience developing robotics, autonomous vehicles, or other complex autonomous systems.
• Strong programming skills in C++ and/or Python.
• Experience taking robotics or autonomy capabilities from development through real-world deployment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead major technical initiatives and make architecture-level decisions.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the technical direction of the robotics and autonomy stack.
• Lead architecture and integration across perception, localization, prediction, planning, controls, and vehicle systems.
• Develop and improve algorithms for motion planning, trajectory generation, decision-making, and vehicle control.
• Own complex system-level problems that span multiple components of the autonomy stack.
• Diagnose real-world autonomy failures and drive improvements across algorithms, software, sensors, and vehicle systems.
• Establish evaluation and validation methodologies that connect component-level performance to vehicle behavior.
• Partner with AI Research and Perception teams to integrate learned models into the broader autonomy system.
• Work closely with software, hardware, firmware, simulation, and vehicle engineering teams to bring autonomous capabilities into production.
• Provide technical mentorship and raise the engineering bar across the robotics organization.

Skills

Motion planning

Trajectory generation

Prediction & decision-making

Localization & state estimation

Controls

Robotics systems architecture

Autonomous vehicle systems

C++

Python

Job description

Who We Are

Atoms is building the machines that power the next era of progress.

Over the last decade, software has transformed the digital world. But the physical world, where food is made, minerals are mined, goods are moved, and industries are run, remains far less intelligent, far less efficient, and far more constrained. We're changing that.

Atoms builds Physical AI - real-world robots for the industries that move civilization forward, starting with food, mining, and transport. Our systems are designed to understand, predict, and control the real world with precision, turning complex physical operations into something more reliable, more scalable, and more productive.

This work requires more than robotics. It requires deep integration across hardware, software, AI, operations, manufacturing, and real estate. We don't just build machines in a lab. We deploy them into real environments, operate them, learn from them, and improve them until they work at scale.

We are roboticists, engineers, operators, and builders. We believe the next great technology companies will not only transform information, but the physical systems that shape everyday life.

If you want to work on hard problems with real-world impact, join us.

What You’ll Do

We are looking for a Robotics Lead to provide technical leadership across the systems that turn perception, prediction, and planning into safe and reliable autonomous vehicle behavior.

You will help define the architecture and technical direction of our robotics stack, working across AI, perception, planning, controls, localization, and vehicle systems. This is a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who understands how complex autonomous systems come together and can drive difficult problems from architecture through real-world deployment.

• Define and drive the technical direction of the robotics and autonomy stack.
• Lead architecture and integration across perception, localization, prediction, planning, controls, and vehicle systems.
• Develop and improve algorithms for motion planning, trajectory generation, decision-making, and vehicle control.
• Own complex system-level problems that span multiple components of the autonomy stack.
• Diagnose real-world autonomy failures and drive improvements across algorithms, software, sensors, and vehicle systems.
• Establish evaluation and validation methodologies that connect component-level performance to vehicle behavior.
• Partner with AI Research and Perception teams to integrate learned models into the broader autonomy system.
• Work closely with software, hardware, firmware, simulation, and vehicle engineering teams to bring autonomous capabilities into production.
• Provide technical mentorship and raise the engineering bar across the robotics organization.

What We’re Looking For

• Significant experience developing robotics, autonomous vehicles, or other complex autonomous systems.
• Deep technical expertise in one or more of:
  • Motion planning and trajectory generation
  • Prediction and decision-making
  • Localization and state estimation
  • Controls
  • Robotics systems architecture
  • Autonomous vehicle systems
• Strong understanding of how perception, planning, localization, controls, and vehicle systems interact within a production autonomy stack.
• Strong programming skills in C++ and/or Python.
• Experience designing and debugging complex real-time robotic systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead major technical initiatives and make architecture-level decisions.
• Experience taking robotics or autonomy capabilities from development through real-world deployment.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work across highly specialized engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building production autonomous vehicle systems.
• Experience with real-time, safety-critical, or highly reliable robotic systems.
• Knowledge of vehicle dynamics, sensor systems, and embedded or onboard compute.
• Experience with simulation, closed-loop evaluation, and autonomous-system validation.
• Experience integrating machine learning models into robotics or autonomy systems.
• Experience diagnosing long-tail failures using vehicle logs, simulation, and real-world testing.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers or providing technical leadership across multiple teams.

Why join us

At Atoms, you'll work on one of the defining challenges of our time - bringing automation into the physical world to drive real, lasting impact. We exist to uncover valuable unknown truths and turn them into progress, which means constantly pushing beyond what's known and building what doesn't yet exist. The work is ambitious and often challenging, but it's grounded in a shared sense of purpose and a team committed to seeing it through together. Our work only matters if it serves others, and we know that meaningful progress depends on the trust of the people we serve and the strength of our team - so we invest in both, creating an environment where you can do your best work and grow.

What Else You Need To Know

This role is based in our San Francisco office. Atoms is a company driven by invention and continuous change - we are constantly reimagining our industries, building new products, and refining how we operate. We do our best work together. That's why all of our office-based teams work onsite, five days a week.

The base salary range for this role is $255,000 - $322,000 per year.

Actual compensation will be determined on an individual basis and may vary depending on experience, skills, and qualifications.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package. You may also be eligible for equity awards.

Benefits Summary (USA Full-Time Exempt Employees)

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
• 401(k)
• Equity
• Sick Time, Unlimited Flexible Time Off, and Paid Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
• Team lunch in our SoMa office every Tuesday and Thursday

Benefits Are Subject To Change At The Company's Discretion.