About the Role
A Y Combinator-backed humanoid robotics startup is looking for a Robotics Engineer to join a small, high-ownership engineering team in San Francisco. You'll build autonomy software — perception, locomotion, and interaction — that makes humanoid robots genuinely useful and reliable in real-world deployments. You'll also advise robot manufacturers on sensor placement, hardware interfaces, and operational design. Expect hands-on work with cutting-edge (and expensive) hardware, close collaboration with a tight-knit team, and direct impact on what ships to customers.
What You'll Do
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Develop autonomy software for humanoid robots and advise manufacturers on sensor placement, hardware interfaces, and operational design.
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Work hands-on with high-cost robotics hardware in real-world settings.
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Iterate on software deployed directly to customers' robots in live environments.
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Implement and improve camera-based 3D perception, including detection, tracking, gesture and body language understanding, and speaker identification.
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Improve locomotion for safe walking in public environments.
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Collaborate with animators to make robot movement, body language, and gestures more fluid and natural.
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Deploy and maintain onboard C++20 and offboard Python 3.14 code on humanoid robot platforms upfit with custom hardware.
What We're Looking For
Must-haves:
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3+ years of professional robotics engineering experience delivering autonomous robotic systems.
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Background in a real-world robotics domain — humanoids, self-driving vehicles, drones, off-road robotics, or similar.
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Strong hands-on experience with C++ (C++20) or Rust.
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Proven ability to ship robotics products into real-world environments.
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Comfortable working with and debugging hardware at the systems level.
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High ownership mindset — you drive features end-to-end.
Strong pluses:
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Experience deploying software on humanoid robot platforms (e.g., Unitree G1 or similar) with custom hardware.
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Camera-based 3D perception: detection, tracking, gesture recognition, body language understanding, and/or speaker identification.
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Experience iterating software in live customer deployments.
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Python offboard software development experience.
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Experience with sensor placement and hardware interfacing in robot system design.
Compensation & Benefits
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Salary: $150,000 – $225,000 USD annually, depending on experience.
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Work authorization / visa sponsorship is available.
Location
This is a full-time, on-site role based in San Francisco, California, USA. Candidates must be willing to work from the San Francisco office.
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