Robotics Software Engineer

ThoughtForge AI; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

12 holidays

Flexible hours

Health, Dental & Vision

Equity

Wellness stipend

Job summary

ThoughtForge AI is seeking a robotics software engineer to join the founding team building robotic arm systems. You’ll work across motion planning, control, perception, and manipulation, shaping real hardware and simulation. You’ll own meaningful pieces of the project from day one.

You’ll collaborate with a small, senior team and flex between fast prototyping and building robust, deployable systems. The role emphasizes ownership, problem solving, and clear communication as you address real-world

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
• 4+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Domain knowledge of robotics such as Dynamics, Controls, Planning, Estimation, and Computer Vision.
• Proficiency in Python.
• Experience with C++, Git, ROS/ROS2, and Simulators (Mujoco, Gazebo, etc.).
• Documentation and Communication Skills.
• Due to the nature of this role working on US Government contracts, we’re contractually obligated to hire a US Citizen or US Green Card holder for this position.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain software that runs in both simulation and on real hardware.
• Prototype fast to prove out ideas, then do the less glamorous half: hardening what works into systems that deploy and stay up.
• Measure what the robot actually does: build the tests and metrics that catch regressions and close the gap between sim and reality.

Skills

Python

C++

ROS/ROS2

Git

Robotics basics

Documentation

Education

Bachelors in CS/Engineering

Tools

Mujoco

Gazebo

Job description

We are on a mission to bring human-like intelligence to robots.

We believe our workforce should focus on innovation and creativity; dull, dangerous, or dirty jobs should be left to robots. Our solution is powered by a type of Artificial Intelligence called Active Inference, letting robots learn resilient skills and adapt to situations they weren't explicitly trained for.

We’re a pre-Series A startup punching well above our weight, tripling our team since 2023 while building solutions for some of the world’s largest companies - including Fortune 20 customers and government contracts.

About the Team

We are a small, senior team [a varied mix of experience ranging from startups to Microsoft and Amazon], and we like working with people who came to robotics by unique and unusual routes.

We're dedicated to supporting new team members, and we care deeply about your career growth and personal development. We're a hybrid/remote team that values work-life balance, diverse perspectives, and learning from each other.

About the Job

You’ll join the founding team building robotic arm systems. Enough work exists today that you won’t start from a blank page; yet enough is missing that you’ll own real pieces of it.

Four main areas, though they overlap more than the list suggests. Expect to work across them rather than inside one:

• Motion planning – computing collision-free paths through an environment.
• Control – executing those paths on real hardware, reliably.
• Perception – object detection and scene reconstruction.
• Manipulation – grasping and dexterous handling of objects.

You’ll have people to collaborate with, including a team that answers questions, reviews your work, and shows up when something breaks. You’ll be given direction, but not a detailed plan, as much of this is still unmapped. This position suits someone who takes ownership: finds the problem, solves it, and sees it through.

Job Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain software that runs in both simulation and on real hardware.
• Prototype fast to prove out ideas, then do the less glamorous half: hardening what works into systems that deploy and stay up.
• Measure what the robot actually does: build the tests and metrics that catch regressions and close the gap between sim and reality.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
• 4+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Domain knowledge of robotics such as Dynamics, Controls, Planning, Estimation, and Computer Vision.
• Proficiency in Python.
• Experience with C++, Git, ROS/ROS2, and Simulators (Mujoco, Gazebo, etc.).
• Documentation and Communication Skills.
• Due to the nature of this role working on US Government contracts, we’re contractually obligated to hire a US Citizen or US Green Card holder for this position.

Nice to have

• Real-time software & multithreaded systems.
• 3D math, linear algebra, embedded systems, signal processing.
• Interest in Active Inference or Machine Learning.

Employee Benefits

• 12 paid holidays
• Flexible work hours policy
• 100% Health, Dental and Vision coverage (Kaiser offered in CA)
• Equity Incentive Package
• $50/month for Health and Wellness

ThoughtForge does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity or expression), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability (physical, mental or sensory), genetic information, age, parental status, military service and veteran status, hair-style, tattoos or piercings or other non-merit based factors. In addition, we’re committed to providing a collaborative and healthy workplace for our employees and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.