Senior Principal Robotics Software Engineer (opens in a new tab)

Monarch Quantum; San Diego, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 235,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance

Fidelity 401(k) plan with 4% employer‑

20 PTO days per year

13 paid company holidays

9/80 work schedule

Job summary

Monarch Quantum in San Diego seeks a Senior Principal Robotics Software Engineer to build foundational motion planning and control capabilities for a scalable robotics platform. You will own end-to-end software stacks, mentor engineers, and collaborate with hardware and process teams to ensure safe, robust operation on real robots.

You will lead advanced planning, kinematics, and world modeling efforts, while promoting test-driven development, CI/CD, and documentation across the stack.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of robotics software development with end-to-end ownership of motion planning or controls.
• Experience mentoring engineers and guiding technical direction beyond own work.
• Startup or fast-paced tech experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build motion and trajectory planning for pick and place tasks, including sensor-driven and coordinated multi-robot sequencing.
• Develop kinematics, reachability, and motion planning, including inverse kinematics for manipulators.
• Own the driver layer connecting to robot hardware and real-time command streaming.
• Advance the stack with learning-based methods and simulation (RL, learned planners, sim-to-real).
• Set technical direction for robotics software stack and integration with fleet management.
• Mentor engineers, enforce code quality, and lead reviews.
• Write unit tests and validation suites for reliable, safe motion control.
• Collaborate with hardware and process teams to validate on real hardware.
• Maintain documentation for planning algorithms, calibration, and interfaces.
• Support independent and collaborative work with strong communication.

Skills

C++ (modern)

Python

Robotics

Motion planning

Kinematics

Multithreading

CI/CD

AI literacy

Mentorship

Real-time systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Robotics or related field

Tools

Foxglove

ROS

Git

Job description

Join our fast-paced and passionate team as a Senior Principal Robotics Software Engineer. As we scale, you will be instrumental in building our foundation from the ground up. This is a dynamic, hands-on role for a self-starter who thrives in a fluid startup environment. You'll have the opportunity to work on cutting edge technologies, work closely with leadership, and develop and implement engineering practices that support our mission and growth. Your key responsibilities are as follows:

• Build motion and trajectory planning for pick and place tasks, ranging from patterned and adaptive, sensor-driven motions to resource-aware sequencing that coordinates multiple robots working the same part.

• Develop kinematics, reachability, and motion planning, including inverse kinematics and trajectory planning for robotic manipulators, and validate plans so motion is collision-free and executable.

• Own the driver layer that connects to robot hardware, streaming motion commands to the robot controller in real time and abstracting sensors behind clean, reliable interfaces.

• Advance the stack with learning-based methods and simulation, including reinforcement learning, learned planners, and sim-to-real training, alongside classical approaches.

• Set technical direction for the robotics software stack (behaviors, motion planning, world modeling, and device control) and how it integrates with fleet management and higher-level systems.

• Mentor other engineers on the team, raising the bar on code quality, planning approaches, and robotics engineering practices.

• Write unit tests and validation suites to ensure motion planning and control software is reliable, safe, and robust.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including hardware and process engineers, to make sure planning and control decisions hold up on real hardware.

• Participate in and lead code reviews, provide constructive feedback, and hold the team to strong coding and safety practices.

• Maintain clear and well-structured documentation for planning algorithms, calibration procedures, and system interfaces.

• Work independently and in a team while over-communicating with the manager, project engineer, and teammates.

• Use tenacity, patience, self-discipline, and passion for excellence to assure accuracy of execution schedule, data quality and integrity, conformance to company best practices, clarity in communication, and documentation.

• Use every opportunity to grow your own competency and the team's, through mentorship, curiosity, communication, exposure, and initiative.

• This position requires access to export-controlled information. Employment is contingent upon the applicant being a U.S. person as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3).

Experience:

• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

• 10+ years building robotics software, with a track record of owning motion planning or controls systems end to end.

• Demonstrated experience mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction beyond your own immediate work.

• Experience working in a startup or fast-paced technology company environment is a plus.

Skills:

• Strong background in modern C++ (17/20/23), with Python experience.

• Hands-on experience with robotics, motion control, or controls software. You've built software that drives physical hardware, not just simulated it.

• Deep experience with kinematics, reachability, and motion planning, including inverse kinematics and trajectory planning for robotic manipulators.

• Worked with physical robots using a world model, with experience planning against that world model.

• Calibration experience to address sim-to-real gaps.

• Comfortable with multithreading, concurrency, and debugging systems-level behavior.

• Fluent developing and operating software on Windows, with Git.

• Familiar with solid engineering practice: some mix of TDD, unit testing, and CI/CD.
• AI literacy in modern software development, including fluency with AI-assisted coding tools and good judgment about when and how to use them to accelerate development without sacrificing code quality or safety.
• Strong mentorship instincts and experience growing other engineers.
• Bonus points for experience with learning-based methods or robot simulation (RL, imitation learning, sim-to-real), SLAM and navigation, or ROS.
• Experience with Foxglove is a plus.
• Realtime systems experience is a plus.

The expected annual salary range for this position is $195,000-$235,000.

As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for Monarch’s comprehensive benefits package, which includes:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Fidelity 401(k) plan with 4% employer matching
• 20 paid time off (PTO) days per year
• 13 paid company holidays
• 9/80 work schedule (every other Friday off)

Monarch Quantum is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status or any other characteristics protected under applicable federal, state and local laws.