Staff Simulation Architect - Core Simulation Platform

Booster; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Apptronik seeks a Staff Software Architect for the Core Simulation Platform to own the architecture of the fast, scalable simulation stack used for RL training and policy validation.

You will define abstractions, APIs, and platform standards, partnering with domain experts in physics, robotics, and ML to scale millions of experiences daily. This role emphasizes distributed systems, performance and cloud-native design in a robotics context.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering, including architecture/leadership on complex systems.
• Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in CS, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent).
• Strong track record architecting distributed, high-throughput, or real-time software systems.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and distributed frameworks.
• Proficiency in CI/CD, automated testing, and code quality practices.
• Comfort translating physics, robotics, and ML needs into system design.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture of the core simulation platform — distributed systems for policy training and validation.
• Build cloud-native pipelines to scale millions of experience hours per day.
• Define core abstractions and APIs to accommodate new physics, sensors, and rendering capabilities.
• Set direction on performance, reliability, and scalability of a large system.
• Drive platform roadmap and review designs to reduce RL and perception iteration time.
• Collaborate with Controls, AI Research, and Perception leadership to align platform needs.
• Mentor engineers on system design and architectural trade-offs.

Skills

C++

Python

Distributed systems

Cloud platforms

CI/CD

Performance optimization

Leadership/architecture

Education

Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in CS or Engineering

Tools

Isaac Lab

MuJoCo

Ray

Kubernetes

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond. We operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.

JOB SUMMARY

At the core of every robot policy we ship is a simulation platform that has to be fast enough for RL training, accurate enough for controls validation, and stable enough to be the team's daily driver. As Staff Software Architect for Core Simulation Platform, you'll own the architecture of that platform — the distributed systems, performance engineering, and large-scale infrastructure decisions that let it run millions of parallel experiences a day. You don't need a deep robotics or simulation background to thrive here: what matters most is a track record of architecting complex, high-performance, distributed software systems. We'll pair you with senior team members who bring domain depth in physics and robotics.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own the architecture of the core simulation platform — high-performance distributed systems that serve as the foundation for policy training, controls validation, and CI/CD integration testing.
• Design and drive the build-out of cloud-native pipelines capable of generating millions of experience hours per day, architecting how compute-heavy workloads parallelize and scale for rapid iteration.
• Define the platform's core abstractions and APIs, ensuring the system stays extensible as new physics, sensor, and rendering capabilities are added by domain specialists.
• Set technical direction on performance, reliability, and scalability, identifying and resolving systemic bottlenecks in a large, high-throughput distributed system.
• Define the platform roadmap and review major design proposals, ensuring improvements visibly reduce iteration time for RL, controls, and perception teams.
• Partner with Controls, AI Research, and Perception leadership to translate their evolving needs into a coherent, extensible architecture as the platform grows.
• Establish architectural standards and mentor senior engineers on system design, bringing outside experience in distributed systems and software architecture into a robotics context.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent C++ and/or Python programming skills, with a strong track record of applying them to large-scale system architecture
• Deep experience architecting distributed, high-throughput, or real-time software systems — this experience can come from robotics, gaming, simulation, high-frequency trading, large-scale backend infrastructure, or similar domains
• Proven experience architecting workloads on cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Ray, Kubernetes)
• Deep familiarity with software development best practices: CI/CD, automated testing, and code quality standards
• Track record of making and defending architectural trade-offs (performance vs. flexibility, latency vs. throughput) and communicating them clearly to engineers and leadership
• Comfort ramping up quickly in a new technical domain, and partnering closely with subject-matter experts in physics, robotics, and ML to translate their needs into system design

At least one of:

• Understanding of robotics concepts: kinematics, dynamics, controls, system identification
• Experience with modern robotic simulators (Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, or equivalent)
• Understanding of Reinforcement Learning, with research or production experience

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 7+ years of software engineering experience, including significant time in a software architecture or technical leadership role on complex, large-scale systems

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times
• Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
• Hearing and speech to communicate

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.