Senior ROS 2 Architect for Robotic Automation - On‑Site NYC

silana; New York (NY); On-site; Full time

Job description

About Silana

Silana is an early‑stage start‑up that builds automated production systems for the garment industry. Our machines integrate robotic manipulation, computer vision, AI, industrial controls, and embedded compute to automate sewing and assembly operations that are still performed manually in most of the world.

About the Role

We are hiring a Senior ROS 2 Software Engineer / System Architect to own the design and implementation of the software and robotics architecture across our automation cells. The person in this role will be responsible for the ROS 2 system architecture, node design, communication topology, lifecycle management, and the integration layer between our robotic arms, PLC/EtherCAT control system, vision pipelines, and edge compute. You will work across the full stack from motion planning through system integration to test and deployment, and your architectural decisions will define how our platform scales from a single customer deployment to a multi‑cell product line. This is a hands‑on technical role. You will write code, debug on hardware, and ship software that runs reliably on production equipment in customer factories. Due to the tight integration with hardware, this position is expected on‑site every day at our NYC facility.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain the ROS 2 system architecture for Silana's automation cells, including node topology, DDS/QoS configuration, lifecycle management, and inter-process communication patterns.
• Own the integration of Universal Robots arms (UR10e/UR20) with the broader system via the ur_robot_driver and External Control URCap, including motion planning, task sequencing, error handling, and recovery.
• Architect and implement the interface layer between ROS 2 and the Beckhoff TwinCAT PLC/EtherCAT control system.
• Collaborate with mechanical, controls, embedded, and vision engineers to define and maintain interface contracts across subsystems.
• Establish software best practices and engineering standards for the robotics stack deployment: test & validation, version control & CI/CD, logging & diagnostics, documentation, safety & security.
• Contribute to technical roadmap decisions in partnership with the CTO and VP of Engineering.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Computer Science from a strong technical program.
• 5 to 7 years of professional experience in software engineering specifically for robotic applications, 3+ in robotic manipulation.

Requirements

• Deep, hands‑on proficiency with ROS 2 (lifecycle nodes, managed nodes, composable containers, launch systems, DDS configuration), not limited to ROS 1 with surface‑level ROS 2.
• Strong C++ skills.
• Experience integrating and programming industrial robotic arms (Universal Robots, Fanuc, KUKA, ABB, or comparable).
• Demonstrated experience building robotic systems that operate on physical hardware in real‑world or production environments.
• Solid understanding of real‑time systems, concurrency, and multi‑process coordination.
• Proficiency in Linux (Ubuntu, systemd, networking, containers).

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Beckhoff TwinCAT, EtherCAT, or comparable industrial fieldbus protocols. Familiarity with PLC programming (Structured Text, IEC 61131‑3).
• Familiarity with MoveIt 2 or custom motion planning implementations.
• Experience with computer vision in robotic systems (OpenCV, depth sensing, Luxonis OAK‑D).
• Exposure to NVIDIA Jetson platforms (AGX Orin, Xavier) and CUDA/TensorRT.
• Experience scaling a robotics codebase from prototype to deployed product.
• Contributions to ROS 2 open‑source packages.
• Familiarity with physics‑based simulation for development and test (digital twin and hardware‑in‑the‑loop) for robotics.