Senior Robotic Controls Engineer – Precision Pointing (SF)

Wwshemi; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 315,000; Full time

Job summary

Wwshemi in San Francisco is seeking a senior controls expert to lead architecture for precision pointing and tracking in a defense tech context. You will bridge theory, simulation, and real-world hardware testing, shaping gimbal controls, filters, and latency-aware estimation.

Expect collaboration across engineers, hands-on leadership, and embedded implementation on high-rate control loops. Requires a PhD-level background in control/estimation, extensive experience with Kalman variants,

Qualifications

• PhD in control theory and estimation.
• 10+ years of experience in precision pointing, tracking, or stabilization hardware.
• Strong background in robust control methods (H-infinity, mu-synthesis, LQG).

Responsibilities

• Design control architectures for coarse gimbals and fine steering mirrors with multi-rate operation and handoffs.
• Develop Kalman variants and nonlinear observers for sensor fusion of radar, EO/IR, and inertial data.
• Implement line-of-sight stabilization, jitter rejection, and latency-aware filtering techniques.
• Allocate and validate pointing error budgets across jitter, latency, and atmospheric effects.
• Model system dynamics, run simulations, and perform hardware-in-the-loop validation.
• Analyze stability under disturbances and integrate controls with tracking sequences and safety logic.
• Deploy algorithms to embedded targets and lead kilohertz-rate control loops in field tests.
• Provide technical reviews and mentor engineers in controls and sensor integration.

Skills

Robust control

Kalman estimation

C/C++ embedded

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

Sensor fusion

H-infinity

mu-synthesis

IMM

Nonlinear observers

Education

PhD in control theory and estimation

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

Embedded RTOS

Job description

Wwshemi in San Francisco is seeking a senior controls expert to lead architecture for precision pointing and tracking in a defense tech context. You will bridge theory, simulation, and real-world hardware testing, shaping gimbal controls, filters, and latency-aware estimation.

Expect collaboration across engineers, hands-on leadership, and embedded implementation on high-rate control loops. Requires a PhD-level background in control/estimation, extensive experience with Kalman variants,