Senior Robotics Controls Engineer

Newnovation; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Newnovation is seeking a Robotics Controls Engineer to develop and tune core control systems powering 200+ ton autonomous haul trucks in real-world mining environments.

You’ll work on localization, path following, longitudinal and lateral control, steering, and state estimation while collaborating with perception, planning, and hardware teams to deploy production autonomous vehicles at customer sites.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of robotics controls engineering experience.
• Strong experience with Python, C++, ROS and Linux.
• Experience developing or tuning robotics/autonomous vehicle control systems.
• Knowledge of localization, state estimation and autonomous navigation.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and tune control algorithms using MPC and PID.
• Develop localization and state-estimation systems using GPS/RTK, IMU, and other sensors.
• Handle GPS dropouts in remote mining environments.
• Analyze system performance through field testing and log replay.
• Debug control issues, identify root causes, and improve system performance.
• Collaborate with perception, planning, and hardware teams to integrate controls into production autonomous vehicles.
• Travel periodically to customer mining sites for deployment, testing, and tuning.

Skills

Python

C++

ROS

Linux

MPC

PID

GPS/RTK

Kalman Filters

NVIDIA Jetson

CAN Bus

NumPy

SciPy

Tools

GPS/RTK

IMU

CAN Bus

NVIDIA Jetson

Job description

Work Type: Full-time, On-site — 5 days/week

Experience: 3–10 years in Robotics Controls Engineering

Travel: Up to 15% to customer mining sites

About the Role

Our client is hiring a Robotics Controls Engineer to develop and tune the core control systems powering 200+ ton autonomous haul trucks in real-world mining environments.

You’ll work on challenging autonomy problems including localization, path following, longitudinal/lateral control, steering, and state estimation. Our client currently has 100+ autonomous trucks in live operation, and this role will help scale the technology further.

We’re especially interested in candidates with experience in mining autonomy, autonomous vehicles, robotics, or related industrial automation. Experience with companies such as Hexagon, Caterpillar, or Komatsu is a plus, but equivalent experience is absolutely welcome.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and tune control algorithms using MPC and PID.
• Develop localization and state-estimation systems using GPS/RTK, IMU, and other sensors.
• Handle localization challenges such as GPS dropouts in remote mining environments.
• Analyze system performance through real-world field testing and log replay.
• Debug control issues, identify root causes, and improve system performance.
• Collaborate with perception, planning, and hardware teams to integrate controls into production autonomous vehicles.
• Travel periodically to customer mining sites for deployment, testing, and tuning.

Required Experience

• 3+ years of experience in robotics controls engineering.
• Strong experience with Python, C++, ROS, and Linux.
• Experience developing or tuning robotics/autonomous vehicle control systems.
• Strong understanding of localization, state estimation, and autonomous navigation.
• Experience working with real-world robotic/vehicle systems and field testing.

Python, C++, ROS, Linux, MPC, NumPy, SciPy, NVIDIA Jetson, GPS/RTK, IMU, CAN Bus, Kalman Filters (EKF/UKF)

Ideal Background

• Autonomous vehicles
• Robotics controls
• Mining autonomy

Why This Role

• Work directly on large-scale autonomous mining trucks.
• Solve complex controls and localization problems in challenging environments.
• Opportunity to work on production systems already operating in the field.
• Engineering-driven environment with significant ownership and impact.