Senior Robot Localization and Mapping Engineer

Intuitive Autonomy; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Equity

Cutting-edge robotics tools

Mentorship

Collaborative culture

Job summary

Intuitive Autonomy is seeking a Senior Robot Localization and Mapping Engineer in San Jose, CA to develop reliable SLAM, state estimation, and mapping for autonomous robots. You will collaborate with perception, navigation, planning, control, and systems teams to deliver accurate, real-time localization.

Responsibilities include sensor fusion across LiDAR, camera, IMU, GNSS, and more, plus optimization, calibration, and deployment on NVIDIA Jetson platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field; 3+ years of industry experience preferred.
• Strong C++ and Python skills with solid engineering practices.
• Background in probabilistic robotics, state estimation, and optimization.
• Familiarity with SLAM frameworks such as Cartographer, LIO-SAM, FAST-LIO, LOAM, ORB-SLAM, VINS, OpenVINS, or RTAB-Map.
• Experience with ROS 2, Linux, CMake, Git, and libraries like PCL, OpenCV, Eigen, Ceres, GTSAM, and g2o.
• Experience with point cloud processing, visual or multi-view geometry, or sensor calibration.
• Experience deploying and optimizing algorithms on embedded platforms.

Responsibilities

• Develop and productize LiDAR and visual-inertial SLAM, global localization, relocalization, and loop closure.
• Fuse LiDAR, camera, IMU, wheel odometry, GNSS, and UWB data for robust localization.
• Build map compression, version management, cloud delivery, and multi-robot map sharing and updates.
• Develop sensor calibration and time synchronization (camera-IMU, LiDAR-IMU, multi-camera, wheel odometry).
• Deploy and optimize algorithms on NVIDIA Jetson platforms and similar hardware.
• Create simulation and real-robot test loops for dynamic environments and challenging scenes.
• Collaborate with perception, navigation, planning, control, and systems teams to meet latency and accuracy goals.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical reviews.

Skills

C++

Python

Probabilistic robotics

State estimation

Optimization

SLAM frameworks

ROS 2

Linux

CMake

Git

PCL

OpenCV

Eigen

Ceres

GTSAM

g2o

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field

Tools

ROS 2

Linux

CMake

Git

PCL

OpenCV

Eigen

Ceres

GTSAM

g2o

Job description

Senior Robot Localization and Mapping Engineer

Location: San Jose, CA

About Us

Intuitive Autonomy is building autonomous caregiving robots to empower safe and independent living for the large aging population. Our team includes experts in robotics, autonomous driving, and large-scale physical AI models, and we collaborate closely with world-leading researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute. Join us as we push the boundaries of AI and robotics to transform the hundred-billion-dollar eldercare industry.

Role Overview

We're seeking a senior localization and mapping engineer to develop reliable SLAM, state estimation, and mapping capabilities for autonomous robots. You'll work with perception, navigation, planning, control, and systems teams to deliver accurate, real-time localization in challenging environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and productize LiDAR and visual-inertial SLAM, global localization, relocalization, loop closure detection, and pose graph optimization
• Fuse LiDAR, camera, IMU, wheel odometry, GNSS, and UWB data for robust localization
• Build map compression, version management, cloud delivery, and multi-robot map sharing and update capabilities
• Develop sensor calibration and time synchronization, including camera-IMU, LiDAR-IMU, multi-camera, and wheel odometry extrinsic calibration
• Deploy, accelerate, and stabilize algorithms on NVIDIA platforms such as Jetson Orin
• Build simulation and real-robot test loops for dynamic environments, low-texture scenes, long corridors, and glass walls
• Integrate localization and mapping outputs with perception, navigation, planning, control, and systems teams to meet latency, accuracy, and robustness requirements
• Evaluate advances in semantic SLAM, collaborative SLAM, learning-based localization, and NeRF / 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) mapping
• Mentor junior engineers, participate in technical reviews, and share knowledge across the team

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field and at least 3 years of industry experience
• Strong C++ and Python skills, with solid engineering practices and coding standards
• Solid foundation in probabilistic robotics, state estimation, and optimization, including EKF variants, particle filters, and factor graphs
• Familiarity with at least one SLAM framework, such as Cartographer, LIO-SAM, FAST-LIO, LOAM, ORB-SLAM, VINS, OpenVINS, or RTAB-Map
• Familiarity with ROS 2, Linux, CMake, Git, and libraries such as PCL, OpenCV, Eigen, Ceres, GTSAM, and g2o
• Experience in point cloud processing, visual or multi-view geometry, or sensor calibration
• Experience with dynamic environments, semantic SLAM, or 3DGS mapping
• Experience deploying and optimizing algorithms on embedded platforms

Bonus Points

• Experience bringing robots to scaled production and real-world deployments
• Experience with multi-robot collaborative mapping or long-term map maintenance
• Publications at ICRA, IROS, RSS, CVPR, T-RO, or related venues

What We Offer

• Competitive salary + equity
• Access to cutting-edge robotics & AI tools
• Mentorship from industry experts
• Collaborative, mission-driven culture