Senior Robotics Software Engineer – Manipulation & Robot Learning

Trubot Technology; Fremont (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Trubot Inc. in Fremont, California, is seeking a Senior Robotics Software Engineer to design, develop, and deploy software on physical robotic arms. The role demands hands-on experience in robotic manipulation, ROS2, motion planning, and real-world debugging.

You will work across perception, planning, and control, integrating hardware interfaces and ML-based methods to deliver reliable robotic systems on production platforms from day one.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, AI, or related field.
• At least 3 years of hands-on experience developing, integrating, debugging, and deploying software on physical robotic manipulation systems.
• Hands-on experience with robotic platforms such as Franka, UR, ABB, Flexiv, KUKA, FANUC, Kinova, or similar industrial arms.
• Strong experience with ROS2 and robotic system integration.
• Strong experience with MoveIt or MoveIt 2, motion planning, IK, trajectory generation, collision checking, calibration, grasping, and manipulation.
• Experience developing robotic systems for grasping, insertion, assembly, cable handling, tool use, or other contact-rich tasks.
• Experience applying machine learning techniques to robotics (reinforcement learning, imitation learning, diffusion, etc.).
• Strong programming skills in Python and C++.
• Strong Linux development and real-world robot debugging experience.
• Ability to work onsite in Fremont, California.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, integrate, and deploy robotic manipulation software on physical robot arms.
• Develop and debug manipulation systems for grasping, insertion, tool use, cable handling, assembly, and other contact-rich tasks.
• Implement motion planning, forward/inverse kinematics, trajectory generation, collision checking, calibration, end-effector integration, force control, and manipulation strategies.
• Integrate perception, planning, control, and hardware interfaces into reliable end-to-end robotic systems.
• Deploy, validate, and optimize robotic software on physical robot arms and mobile manipulation platforms.
• Apply ML techniques—including RL, imitation learning, diffusion, and VLA—to improve manipulation performance.
• Develop and improve RL, LfD, behavior cloning, diffusion methods for manipulation.
• Explore VLA, Embodied AI, and foundation-model-based approaches for manipulation.
• Evaluate policy robustness, task success, and generalization; analyze failure modes.

Skills

Python

C++

ROS2

MoveIt/MoveIt 2

Industrial robot arms

Linux

Debugging robotics systems

Education

MS or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or related field

Tools

Franka

UR (Universal Robots)

ABB

Flexiv

KUKA

FANUC

Kinova

MoveIt 2

Job description

Robotic Manipulation / Robot Arms / ROS2 / MoveIt 2 / Motion Planning / Inverse Kinematics / Forward Kinematics / Trajectory Planning / Robot Control / Force Control / Grasping / Insertion / Assembly / Calibration / End-Effector Control / Industrial Robotics / Franka / Universal Robots (UR) / ABB / Flexiv / KUKA / FANUC / Reinforcement Learning / Imitation Learning / Sim-to-Real

About the Company

Trubot Inc. is a robotics company focused on intelligent inspection robots and automation solutions for data center operations.

We build, deploy, and operate real robotic systems in demanding industrial environments. Our next-generation robotics platform combines robotic manipulation, intelligent perception, robot learning, and autonomous operation to solve real-world automation challenges.

Our mission is to bring advanced robotic manipulation from research into reliable production systems.

Role Summary

We are seeking a Senior Robotics Software Engineer with extensive hands‑on experience developing and deploying software on physical robotic arms.

This role requires strong expertise in robotic manipulation, ROS2, motion planning, forward and inverse kinematics, trajectory generation, robot control, perception integration, calibration, end‑effector control, and real‑world system debugging.

The ideal candidate has practical experience building robotic manipulation systems on platforms such as Franka, Universal Robots (UR), ABB, Flexiv, KUKA, FANUC, Kinova, or similar industrial robot arms.

Experience applying machine learning techniques—including reinforcement learning, imitation learning, diffusion policies, or Vision‑Language‑Action (VLA)—to improve robotic manipulation performance is highly desirable.

This is not a simulation‑only or research‑only position. The engineer must be comfortable working directly with physical robots and contributing to real‑world system deployment from day one.

Responsibilities

Robotic Manipulation & Software Development

• Design, develop, integrate, and deploy robotic manipulation software on physical robot arms.
• Develop and debug manipulation systems for grasping, insertion, tool use, cable handling, assembly, and other contact‑rich real‑world tasks.
• Implement motion planning, forward and inverse kinematics, trajectory generation, collision checking, calibration, end‑effector integration, force control, and manipulation strategies.
• Integrate perception, planning, control, and hardware interfaces into reliable end‑to‑end robotic systems.
• Deploy, validate, and optimize robotic software on physical robot arms and mobile manipulation platforms.
• Apply machine learning techniques—including reinforcement learning, imitation learning, diffusion policies, and VLA—when they provide measurable improvements to robotic manipulation performance.
• Develop and improve reinforcement learning, imitation learning, behavior cloning, diffusion policies, and other learning‑based methods for robotic manipulation.
• Explore Vision‑Language‑Action (VLA), Embodied AI, and foundation‑model‑based approaches for robotic manipulation.
• Evaluate and improve policy robustness, task success rates, and generalization performance.
• Analyze failure modes and continuously improve manipulation reliability.

Simulation & Data

• Build and maintain simulation environments using Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, or similar platforms.
• Develop teleoperation and human demonstration pipelines for data collection.
• Build training datasets, evaluation pipelines, and experiment workflows.
• Support sim‑to‑real transfer and deployment onto physical robotic systems.

Real‑World Deployment

• Deploy robotic software onto physical robot arms and production robotic systems.
• Debug and resolve perception, planning, control, and hardware integration issues on real robots.
• Work closely with hardware, controls, perception, and software teams to deliver reliable robotic systems.
• Participate in system integration, field validation, testing, and customer deployments.

Required Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.
• At least 3 years of hands‑on experience developing, integrating, debugging, and deploying software on physical robotic manipulation systems.
• Hands‑on experience with robotic platforms such as Franka, Universal Robots (UR), ABB, Flexiv, KUKA, FANUC, Kinova, or similar industrial robot arms.
• Strong experience with ROS2 and robotic system integration.
• Strong experience with MoveIt or MoveIt 2, motion planning, forward and inverse kinematics, trajectory generation, collision checking, calibration, grasping, and manipulation.
• Experience developing robotic systems for grasping, insertion, assembly, cable handling, tool use, or other contact‑rich tasks.
• Experience applying machine learning techniques to robotic manipulation, such as reinforcement learning, imitation learning, or diffusion‑based methods.
• Strong programming skills in Python and C++.
• Strong Linux development and real‑world robot debugging experience.
• Ability to work onsite in Fremont, California.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in one or more of the following areas:

• MoveIt / MoveIt 2
• Franka
• Universal Robots (UR)
• Flexiv
• ABB
• FANUC
• Kinova
• Force control
• Visual servoing
• Grasp planning
• Insertion
• Assembly automation
• End‑effector integration
• Hand‑eye calibration
• Teleoperation systems
• Learning from Demonstration (LfD)
• Behavior Cloning
• Diffusion Policy
• ACT (Action Chunking Transformer)
• Vision‑Language‑Action (VLA)
• OpenVLA
• Isaac Sim
• Isaac Lab
• MuJoCo
• Real‑world robotic deployment

What We Value

We are looking for engineers with extensive hands‑on experience building and deploying robotic manipulation systems on physical robot arms.

Practical engineering experience is more important than publication records.

Candidates should be able to independently integrate perception, planning, motion control, calibration, and hardware interfaces into reliable robotic systems.

Experience applying modern robot learning methods to improve real‑world robotic manipulation is highly valued. However, simulation‑only or research‑only experience is not sufficient for this role.

Application

We welcome applications from qualified candidates.