Senior Manager, Software Engineering – Robotics Manipulation

Jobtailor; California (MO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a senior robotics leader to head the Isaac Manipulation team. You will recruit, mentor, and direct a high-performing group of robotics software engineers, defining the strategy and roadmap for manipulation, planning, and learned policies across real and simulated platforms.

You will collaborate with NVIDIA Research and related teams to bring sim-to-real approaches into the platform, driving GPU-accelerated design and APIs that work in production environments on robotic arms.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in robotics or robotics-adjacent systems.
• 3+ years leading and mentoring engineering teams.
• Hands-on expertise with robotic arms, manipulation, and planning.
• GPU-accelerated computing and modern ML infrastructure knowledge.
• Able to translate partner needs into roadmap and shipping product.
• Strong C++ and Python software engineering fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Isaac Manipulation team and set direction for the group.
• Recruit, grow, and mentor robotics software engineers; drive velocity and delivery.
• Collaborate with Product Management to shape strategy and roadmaps for manipulation tasks.
• Translate complex tasks into robust platform capabilities for real-world use.
• Partner with research and simulation teams to bring sim-to-real RL into the platform.
• Represent manipulation in platform and business decisions and align APIs/tools with workflows.
• Drive architecture using CUDA and edge inference across simulation, training, and on-robot use.
• Oversee multi-functional programs ensuring quality and deployment of learned policies.

Skills

Robotics

Leadership

C++/Python

GPU computing

Stakeholder management

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Robotics or related field

Tools

CUDA

PyTorch

Robot SDKs

Job description

Responsibilities

• Lead the Isaac Manipulation team
• Recruit, grow, and mentor a high-performing team of robotics software engineers; set direction, raise the technical bar, and manage the team’s health, velocity, and delivery
• Collaborate with Product Management to define and drive the strategy and roadmap for grasping, motion planning and control, perception-for-manipulation, and learned manipulation policies — from research to productized, supported platform capabilities
• Translate the hardest contact‑rich manipulation tasks in manufacturing, logistics, assembly, and machine tending into robust capabilities that work in the real world, not just the lab
• Partner with NVIDIA Research, the Isaac Sim/Lab teams, and foundation-model teams (e.g., Isaac GR00T, Cosmos) to bring sim‑to‑real, imitation, and reinforcement learning approaches into the platform and onto physical arms
• Serve as a technical face of Isaac Manipulation to robot‑arm OEMs, system integrators, and the developer community — gathering requirements, running joint engineering, and ensuring our APIs and tools meet real workflows
• Drive architecture and execution that fully uses NVIDIA GPUs, CUDA, and the accelerated‑computing stack across simulation, training, and on‑robot inference on Jetson and edge platforms
• Drive planning and execution of complex, multi‑functional programs; own quality, performance, and the real‑world deployment of learned policies and manipulation stacks on physical robots
• Represent manipulation in platform‑level technical and business decisions, and help shape where NVIDIA invests across the robotics stack

Requirements

• BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 12+ total years of relevant industry experience building robotics or robotics‑adjacent systems, including 3+ years leading, mentoring, and managing engineering teams
• Hands‑on expertise with robotic arms, manipulation, and physics from grasping, motion planning (across both numerical optimization and sampling‑based approaches), and control (including force/impedance and contact‑rich control) to perception‑guided manipulation
• Working understanding of GPU‑accelerated computing and modern ML infrastructure, and how to architect robotics software to take advantage of it (CUDA, PyTorch, GPU‑accelerated simulation, edge inference)
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with external partners, customers, and developer communities and to translate their needs into roadmap and shipping product
• Strong software engineering fundamentals (modern C++ and Python) and the ability to engage substantively in technical and architectural decisions with your team.