Senior Staff Software Engineer, Motion Planning
About The Role
Our autonomy team is growing, and we are looking for an experienced technical leader to set the direction for motion planning on our humanoid robots. In this role you will own the technical roadmap for collision-free motion planning across whole-body motion, manipulation, grasping, and loco-manipulation. You will partner closely with our state estimation, navigation, controls, and behaviors teams to architect a planning stack that solves the hardest problems in real-world deployment: high degrees of freedom, dynamic constraints, environmental uncertainty, and reliability at scale.
About The Work
Own and drive the technical roadmap for collision-free motion planning across whole-body motion, manipulation, grasping, and loco-manipulation
Design, implement, test, and deploy motion planning and trajectory optimization algorithms for humanoid robots
Architect motion planning systems for modularity, observability, and clean integration with perception, state estimation, and control
Develop algorithms robust to environmental uncertainty and imperfect state estimation
Lead cross-team architectural decisions and collaborate with autonomy, controls, and behaviors teams to solve complex system-level problems
About You
Experience developing and deploying manipulation algorithms on high-DOF robots
Industry experience deploying mobile manipulation robots in real-world commercial applications
Proven expertise in sample-based motion planning, trajectory optimization, and model predictive control (MPC) with a track record of shipping these algorithms to production
Expertise developing planning and optimization algorithms subject to geometric and kinodynamic constraints, including contact, friction, and collision
Deep mathematical fundamentals in search and numerical optimization, including convex and non-convex problem formulation
Expertise in modern C++ (C++17/20) and Python for high-performance, multithreaded, real-time robotics applications
Track record architecting large-scale autonomy systems and defining clean interfaces across perception, estimation, planning, and control
Demonstrated technical leadership: setting direction for complex robotics systems, owning architecture, and mentoring senior engineers
Bonus Qualifications
Experience working with humanoid (or similar) robots
Experience with loco-manipulation: combined planning of locomotion and manipulation
Experience with whole-body model predictive control or whole-body trajectory optimization
Experience with task and motion planning (TAMP) under uncertainty
Experience leveraging machine learning or offline trajectory optimization to accelerate online planning
Experience with perception and scene understanding as it pertains to motion planning
Publications in top robotics venues (RSS, ICRA, IROS, etc. )
This is a fully remote role with the option to work hybrid if a commutable distance from our Salem, OR, Pittsburgh, PA, or Fremont, CA offices.
The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to: market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This range may change based on geographical location and may be modified in the future.
Anticipated Base Salary Range
$216,000—$337,000 USD