Senior / Staff Robotics Controls Engineer

Roboforce; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 265,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Health, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) plan

Visa sponsorship

Job summary

RoboForce in Milpitas, CA is seeking a Senior/Staff Robotics Controls Engineer to turn operator intent into predictable robotic behavior. You will develop and deploy control software for motion and interaction, tackling real sensing, actuation, timing and data-driven validation in a hardware-forward role.

You will work closely with software and hardware teams to ensure robust, scalable control loops and real-time performance across Cartesian and whole-body motion tasks, with a strong emphasis on

Qualifications

• BS, MS or PhD in Robotics, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, CS or equivalent.
• Experience implementing and debugging feedback controllers on manipulators or mobile robots.
• Solid foundation in control theory, stability and model uncertainty.

Responsibilities

• Motion control design, implementation and tuning for robot motion.
• Integrate control with kinematics, dynamics and task priorities.
• Develop impedance/admittance and force control as required by tasks.
• Handle command transitions, mode changes and recovery under system contracts.
• Develop maintainable C++ control software with timing and diagnostics.
• Design experiments and analyze data for tracking, oscillation and model mismatch.
• Validate workflows with planning, platform and test engineers.

Skills

Feedback control

Kinematics & dynamics

Robot motion control

C++ programming

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Robotics or related field

Tools

C++

Python

Job description

Milpitas, CA

Why RoboForce

RoboForce is an AI robotics company developing Physical AI–powered Robo-Labor for dull, dirty, and dangerous work. The company’s robots are engineered for demanding industrial environments, with a focus on real-world deployment and scalability.

We are looking for a Senior / Staff Robotics Controls Engineer to turn operator and planner intent into predictable physical behavior. You will develop and deploy control software for motion and interaction, with opportunities across Cartesian control, coordinated motion and compliance.

This role is close to the hardware. You will work through real sensing, actuation, timing and contact challenges, measure what the robot actually does, and collaborate with software and hardware engineers to deliver useful behavior beyond a demonstration.

Responsibilities

Motion Control: Design, implement and tune controllers for joint, Cartesian or coordinated robot motion according to task and hardware needs.

Coordination & Constraints: Integrate control with kinematics, dynamics, task priorities and practical actuator or workspace limits.

Compliance & Physical Interaction: Develop appropriate interaction behavior for tasks that require impedance, admittance, force or other compliance methods.

Command Transitions & Recovery: Implement controller behavior for command-source changes, mode transitions, stale inputs, stopping and recovery under agreed system contracts.

Production Implementation: Build maintainable C++ control software with attention to timing, concurrency, resource use and diagnostic evidence.

Hardware Experimentation: Design experiments and analyze data to investigate tracking, oscillation, saturation, friction, sensing and model mismatch.

Validation & Integration: Work with planning, platform, teleoperation and test engineers to validate complete workflows and maintain controller regression coverage.

Requirements

Education: BS, MS or PhD in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Physical Deployment: Experience implementing and debugging feedback controllers on manipulators, mobile robots or comparable physical motion systems.

Control Foundations: Strong understanding of feedback control, kinematics, dynamics, stability and model uncertainty.

Control Depth: Substantial experience in one or more of Cartesian control, whole-body coordination, impedance/admittance, force control or related methods.

Software Engineering: Strong C++ skills and practical Python experience for analysis, experimentation and tooling.

Hardware Debugging: Ability to connect observed behavior to sensing, actuation, timing, software and model assumptions.

Ownership: Ability to take a control workstream from formulation and implementation through measured hardware validation.

Requires 5 days/week in-office collaboration with the teams.

Bonus Qualifications

Experience with whole-body optimization, task prioritization or mobile manipulation.

Experience with contact-rich tasks, force sensing or compliant manipulation.

Experience with ROS 2 or comparable robotics middleware.

Experience with real-time software, control performance analysis or constrained computing platforms.

Experience maintaining controller behavior on deployed robots beyond initial demonstrations.

• Competitive stock options/equity programs.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) plan.
• Visa sponsorship and green card support for qualified candidates.
• Lunches and dinners, a fully stocked kitchen, and regular team-building events.

Compensation: Salary $190,000–$265,000 USD + Bonus + Equity

The base salary range above represents the expected compensation for this full-time U.S. position. Final compensation will be determined based on role scope, level, location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training, and may fall outside the listed range in exceptional cases.