Staff Robotics Engineer- Spot Manipulation

Boston Dynamics; Waltham (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

401(k)

Paid time off

Annual bonus

Job summary

Boston Dynamics is seeking a Staff Robotics Engineer to advance manipulation and control for Spot. You will influence the arm control stack from low-level actuators to planning components, solving real-world interaction challenges with a highly collaborative team.

Ideal candidates have 3+ years of hands-on experience deploying controls on hardware, strong C++ skills, and expertise in inverse kinematics and rigid-body dynamics. This role is based in Massachusetts with no visa sponsorship.

Qualifications

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, CS, or related field.
• 3+ years of experience deploying controls and manipulation software on real hardware.
• High proficiency in C++ programming.
• Deep expertise in rigid-body dynamics, inverse kinematics, and classic control (impedance/force, operational space).
• Strong analytical, spatial reasoning and hardware debugging skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of novel control algorithms for Spot’s arm manipulation, grasping and physical interaction.
• Conduct hardware testing and debugging using the Spot fleet.
• Produce reliable, maintainable production C++ code.
• Serve as a senior technical contributor, driving architectural decisions across the arm control stack.
• Foster design reviews and cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams.

Skills

C++ programming

Rigid-body dynamics

Inverse kinematics

Classical control systems

Hardware debugging

Education

Master's degree

Job description

Do you have a passion for applying state-of-the-art controls and kinematic planning to solve real-world manipulation problems? As a Staff Robotics Engineer on the Spot Manipulation team, you will play a pivotal role in tackling some of the most challenging physical interaction problems in mobile robotics. Your role will encompass a broad range of responsibilities across the manipulation stack, including low-level arm control, force dynamics, inverse kinematics, and path planning. Success in this position requires a blend of deep technical expertise, innovation, empathy for customer needs, and collaborative teamwork within a dynamic, multidisciplinary environment.

Day-to-Day Activities

• Lead the development of novel control algorithms to enhance Spot’s arm manipulation, grasping, and physical interaction capabilities.
• Conduct thorough hardware testing and debugging using our in-house Spot fleet.
• Produce highly reliable, maintainable, and easily testable production C++ code.
• Serve as a senior technical contributor, driving architectural decisions across the arm control stack.
• Facilitate design reviews and foster collaborative problem-solving with cross-functional engineering teams.

We Are Looking For

• Master's degree (or equivalent experience) in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience deploying controls and manipulation software on real-world hardware systems.
• High proficiency in C++ programming.
• Deep expertise in rigid-body dynamics, inverse kinematics, and classical control systems (e.g., impedance/force control, operational space control).
• Strong analytical, spatial reasoning, and hardware debugging skills.

Nice To Have

• Experience with kinematic path planning and trajectory optimization.
• Background in rigid-body simulation and Python.
• Exposure to modern learning-based techniques for manipulation (e.g., RL, visual policy learning/VLAs).
• PhD in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.

We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas for this position.

The base pay range for this position is between $140,000 to $180,000 annually. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors including, but not limited to internal equity, job related knowledge, skills and experience. This range represents a good faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting.

• Boston Dynamics offers a generous Benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401(k), paid time off and a annual bonus structure.
• Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer for employment.