Robotics Simulation Engineer

ShortList Recruitment Limited; Colorado Springs (CO); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

ShortList is seeking a Robotics Simulation Engineer to join a small, privately funded engineering team in Colorado working on autonomous vehicle control. This build role creates virtual environments for training and testing autonomy software.

You will design 3D environments, ensure sensor and vehicle motion reflect real hardware, and generate data for the wider team, using Unity/Unreal with C++, Python, and ROS.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or a closely related subject.
• Experience with a real time 3D engine such as Unity or Unreal Engine, or a strong graphics background.
• Strong C++ and Python.
• Working knowledge of robotics, ideally including the Robot Operating System (ROS).

Responsibilities

• Design and build the 3D simulation environments used to develop and test autonomy software
• Improve how closely simulated sensors and vehicle movement reflect the real hardware
• Generate training and test data from simulation for the wider engineering team
• Build the interfaces and front end tooling engineers use to run and interpret simulations
• Work directly with the autonomy engineers to turn what they need into simulation capability
• Review code and help set the engineering standard on a team where everyone is close to the work

Skills

C++

Python

ROS

Real-time 3D engine

Education

Bachelor's in CS

Tools

Unity

Unreal Engine

Job description

ShortList is looking for a Robotics Simulation Engineer to join a small, privately funded engineering team in Colorado working on autonomous vehicle control. The team is early stage and the simulation function is being built from a standing start, so this is a build role rather than maintenance of something that already exists. What you produce feeds straight into how the vehicles are developed and tested.

You will be creating the virtual environments that autonomy software is trained and tested in, so you need the graphics and engine side, and you need enough robotics experience to make the simulated vehicle sense and behave like the real one.

Key Responsibilities for the Robotics Simulation Engineer role:

• Design and build the 3D simulation environments used to develop and test autonomy software
• Improve how closely simulated sensors and vehicle movement reflect the real hardware
• Generate training and test data from simulation for the wider engineering team
• Build the interfaces and front end tooling engineers use to run and interpret simulations
• Work directly with the autonomy engineers to turn what they need into simulation capability
• Review code and help set the engineering standard on a team where everyone is close to the work

Key skills for the Robotics Simulation Engineer role:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or a closely related subject
• Experience with a real time 3D engine such as Unity or Unreal Engine, or a strong graphics background
• Strong C++ and Python
• Working knowledge of robotics, ideally including the Robot Operating System (ROS)

Useful but not essential for the Robotics Simulation Engineer role:

• Master's degree or higher in computer science
• Physics modeling, including rigid body or fluid dynamics
• Sensor simulation or perception pipeline experience on real robotic platforms
• Graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated simulation tooling

This is ideal for someone early in their career who has already worked in this area, whether in a university lab, a research group or a first engineering job. The team is happy to take a strong recent graduate, so if you have the simulation build and the robotics understanding then I am keen to speak with you.

The role is remote through the end of the year, and from January the team is based together in Colorado Springs. You will need to be living in Colorado and within reasonable travelling distance of the office. Hybrid from Denver or Boulder works.

This is a full time permanent position. Given the nature of the work, applicants must be United States citizens. Our client is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role and cannot consider anyone who needs sponsorship now or at any point in the future.