Staff Robotics Architect – Dynamic Simulation

Location: Fremont, CA | Hybrid, three days onsite per week
Level: Senior, Staff, or Senior Staff
Travel: Approximately quarterly
Relocation and immigration sponsorship: Available for eligible candidates

Help shape the next generation of humanoid robots before the hardware exists.

Our client is seeking a hands-on Robotics Architect to build high-fidelity dynamic simulation tools that guide early robot design and product development. You’ll translate real-world applications into robot models and digital twin scenarios, evaluate architectural options, and turn simulation results into clear engineering decisions.

You’ll work across mechanical, electrical, software, perception, controls, systems, and safety teams. This is an individual contributor role with significant technical influence and no direct reports.

What you’ll do

• Develop early system models for new robots and features, including before detailed CAD or physical prototypes are available.

• Build flexible, reusable simulation tools and workflows that support architecture decisions throughout product development.

• Create robot digital twins covering whole-body behavior, joint control, actuators, and component dynamics.

• Evaluate robot configurations and design trade-offs across performance, safety, reliability, cost, complexity, and manufacturability.

• Translate simulation findings into actionable design recommendations and testable system requirements.

• Support reinforcement learning-based controllers, simulated training data, and validation of robot control behavior.

• Validate models against hardware testing and telemetry, refining assumptions as new data becomes available.

• Maintain a cohesive technical vision while partnering with engineering teams from concept through deployment.

What you’ll bring

• Industry experience in mobile robotics, with strong foundations in robot kinematics, dynamics, controls, and system modeling.

• Deep experience developing high-fidelity dynamic simulations that inform physical product design.

• A track record of personally building simulation systems, tools, and end-to-end workflows.

• Experience with robot digital twins, including whole-body, joint, and component simulation.

• Practical experience with reinforcement learning applied to robotic control.

• Proficiency with MuJoCo, Gazebo, or equivalent simulation tools, supported by strong software engineering skills.

• Experience translating simulation results into robot architecture decisions and engineering requirements.

• Experience supporting complex robotic systems through product development and commercial or field deployment.

• The ability to communicate technical trade-offs clearly and influence decisions across engineering disciplines.

The role is scoped for an experienced technical contributor, typically with 8+ years in dynamic simulation supporting product development, 5+ years developing simulation tools and processes, and 3+ years contributing to robot systems or architecture. Candidates with strong relevant capabilities will be considered across Senior, Staff, and Senior Staff levels.

Particularly relevant experience

• Humanoid or legged robotics, mobile manipulation, or other robots with many degrees of freedom.

• Whole-body control, actuator characterization, contact dynamics, and sim-to-real validation.

• Perception, real-time control, and safety-related robot architectures.

• A master’s or PhD in robotics, controls, mechanical engineering, computer science, or a related field.

Why this role

You’ll help establish the dynamic simulation capability that guides future robot development. Your work will influence fundamental design decisions early, with direct access to hardware architecture leadership and close collaboration across the teams bringing the robot into the real world.

If you’ve built simulation tools that changed how a mobile robot was designed, we’d like to hear from you.