Staff Software Engineer - Humanoid Controls New Sunnyvale, CA

Apptronik; Sunnyvale, Northern (CA, KY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Apptronik in Sunnyvale, CA is building robots to improve human life. As Staff Software Engineer – Humanoid Controls, you will be a senior technical force multiplier on the Motion Control & Planning team, shaping whole-body control for our wheeled-base platform and biped, translating advanced control and learning into real capability.

You will own architecture and real-time performance, collaborate with hardware and RL teams, mentor engineers, and drive safer, scalable software from simulation

Qualifications

• Strong grounding in kinematics, dynamics, state estimation, and optimization.
• Expertise in whole-body control (WBC/OSC/MPC) for floating-base or mobile platforms.
• Hands-on experience with learning-based control / reinforcement learning in robotics.
• Experience deploying controllers on real robot hardware.
• Preferred: safety-critical / certified software experience (ISO 13849, IEC 61508).

Responsibilities

• Raise the quality of the controls stack: architecture, algorithms, testing, maintenance.
• Advance whole-body control across platforms: wheeled-base and biped.
• Translate state-of-the-art methods from simulation to hardware bring-up.
• Collaborate with hardware, systems, and RL teams to diagnose issues.
• Mentor engineers and influence roadmap across teams.

Skills

Robotics fundamentals

Whole-body control

Learning-based control

Realtime C++/Python

Production-grade controllers

Education

MS/PhD in Robotics or Computer Science

Job description

Staff Software Engineer - Humanoid Controls

Sunnyvale, CA

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

Apptronik is building robots for the real world — to improve human quality of life and help solve the ever-increasing labor shortage. As a Staff Software Engineer – Humanoid Controls, you will be a senior technical force multiplier on our Motion Control & Planning team — the person who raises the quality of our robotics stack and moves to wherever the hardest problem is. Your scope spans whole-body control for our wheeled-base platform and our biped, learning-based hand control, mobile manipulation, and teleoperation — translating state-of-the-art controls and learning into real capability while setting technical direction for the team.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Raise the quality of the overall controls stack — architecture, algorithms, real-time performance, testing, and long-term maintainability.
• Advance whole-body control across our platforms — the wheeled-base robot and the biped — coordinating the base or legs with upper-body manipulation.
• Flex across the stack to the highest-impact problems — e. g. learning-based hand control (RL in simulation), mobile manipulation, teleoperation, and estimation.
• Translate state-of-the-art model-based and learning-based methods into robust capability, from simulation through hardware bring-up and deployment.
• Expand the robot's performance envelope — speed, payload, reliability, and safety — with measurable, defensible improvements.
• Set technical direction across the controls stack, influencing the roadmap and bringing adjacent teams (locomotion, manipulation, teleoperation, RL, estimation) along.
• Mentor engineers and multiply team capability through design reviews, code reviews, and best practices.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, systems, and RL teams to co-develop solutions and diagnose system-level issues.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Deep robotics fundamentals: kinematics, dynamics, state estimation, and optimization/control theory.
• Proven expertise in whole-body control (WBC/OSC, QP-based control, or MPC) for floating-base (legged) or mobile (wheeled) systems.
• Hands- on experience with learning-based control / reinforcement learning applied to robotics (training in simulation).
• Breadth across robot control problems — mobile manipulation, dexterity / hand control, and teleoperation — and the versatility to move between them.
• Strong software engineering: real-time C++ and Python for robotic systems.
• Industry experience developing production-grade controllers, including hands- on experience validating or deploying algorithms on physical robot hardware.
• Preferred: shipping controllers to a production fleet or to market at scale; dexterous / in-hand manipulation; legged locomotion; or safety-critical / certified software (ISO 13849, 10218, IEC 61508).

EDUCATION and/or