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First Robotics Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Skild AI

Robotics Engineer, Manipulation

San Mateo, CA · On-site

$100K - $300K/yr

Company Overview At Skild AI, we are building the world's first general purpose robotic intelligence that is robust and adapts to unseen scenarios without failing. We believe massive scale through ...

Skild AI

Robotics Engineer, Manipulation

San Mateo, CA · On-site

$100K - $300K/yr

Company Overview At Skild AI, we are building the world's first general purpose robotic intelligence that is robust and adapts to unseen scenarios without failing. We believe massive scale through ...

OffWorld

Robotics Test Engineer

Pasadena, CA · On-site

$95 - $135/hr

OffWorld's first challenge is developing and maturing a modular robotic system for extreme environments on Earth. Our robots will go deeper underground and further on Earth than humans can, eliminate ...

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First Robotics information

See California salary details

$82.9K

$94.7K

$115K

How much do first robotics jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 21, 2026, the average yearly pay for first robotics in California is $94,742.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $88,800.00 and $100,700.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a First Robotics job?

A FIRST Robotics job typically involves mentoring, coaching, or supporting student teams in designing, building, and programming robots for competitions organized by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). These roles can be volunteer-based or paid positions in schools, nonprofit organizations, or STEM-focused companies. Responsibilities may include teaching engineering concepts, overseeing project management, ensuring safety, and fostering teamwork. Many professionals in this field have backgrounds in robotics, engineering, or computer science.

What does a typical week look like for a FIRST Robotics mentor or coach?

A typical week for a FIRST Robotics mentor or coach involves leading students through project planning, design brainstorming, prototype building, and programming sessions, often during after-school hours or weekends. Mentors coordinate with other team members, provide technical assistance, and help manage deadlines for submissions and competition preparations. Collaboration with teachers, parents, and local industry sponsors is also common, especially when organizing events or fundraising activities. The role is dynamic and rewarding, emphasizing hands-on learning, mentorship, and teamwork as students progress through different stages of the robotics season.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the First Robotics position, and why are they important?

To thrive in a FIRST Robotics mentor or coach position, strong knowledge of engineering principles, robotics design, and hands-on mechanical/electrical skills are fundamental, often supported by experience in STEM fields or education. Familiarity with tools such as CAD software, programming environments like LabVIEW or Java, and FIRST-specific hardware kits is essential. Leadership, teamwork, and effective communication are standout soft skills, as mentors collaborate closely with students and other volunteers. These abilities ensure successful guidance of robotics teams, foster student growth, and help meet competition goals in a dynamic, technical environment.

What are the most commonly searched types of First Robotics jobs in California?

The most popular types of First Robotics jobs in California are:

What are popular job titles related to First Robotics jobs in California?

For First Robotics jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching First Robotics jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for First Robotics jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for First Robotics jobs?

Cities in California with the most First Robotics job openings:

First Robotics jobs near you
Infographic showing various First Robotics job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 50% Part Time, and 50% Nights. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $94,742 per year, or $45.5 per hour.

Senior Robotics SWE, System Identification & Modeling

Nimble Robotics

San Francisco, CA • On-site

$144K - $190K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement

Re-posted 24 days ago

Job description

About Nimble
 
Nimble is an AI robotics company building the autonomous supply chain to power fast, efficient and economical commerce. We're training robot AGI to power a proprietary generalist supply chain superhumanoid, the first robot in the world capable of performing thousands of tasks across the supply chain. We've raised over $220M at over $1B valuation and formed a strategic alliance with FedEx to build a national network of autonomous warehouses capable of generating many billions in annual revenue. We are a hardcore and obsessed team of the world's best engineers and operators. If you are obsessed with your craft, enjoy a high-intensity and fast moving high impact environment, are super high agency in getting hard things done and want to be part of building the world's most legendary robotics company at the most pivotal moment in history, we want to work with you.We are on a mission to empower and inspire mankind to accomplish legendary feats by inventing robots that liberate us from the menial. We will accomplish this by training robot AGI to invent and build the Autonomous Supply Chain - everything from the inside of factories and warehouses to your front door - powered by generalist superhumanoids.Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and Director of Stanford's AI Lab), Marc Raibert (founder of Boston Dynamics), and Sebastian Thrun (founder of GoogleX, Waymo; Stanford Professor and considered the father of autonomous vehicles).Let's be legendary.
 
Link: Nimble Closes $106 Million Series C Funding Round, Scales Fully Autonomous Fulfillment with FedEx 
 
Link: FedEx Announces Expansion of FedEx Fulfillment With Nimble Alliance
 
Why Join Nimble?
At Nimble, we are committed to building legendary products, a legendary team, and a legendary legacy. Join us and become part of an ambitious, humble, and resourceful culture where your work will leave a lasting impact on the future of robotics and commerce.
 
Nimble's Core Values:
Be relentlessly resourceful - Challenge conventions and overcome obstacles.
Be legendary - Be the very best and do work that inspires.
Be humble - Prioritize growth, learning, and doing whatever is needed to further the mission.
Be dependable - Take ownership and deliver with high agency.
About the RoleWe are looking for a Senior Robotics Software Engineer specializing in System Identification and Modeling to build the core software powering our next-generation autonomous robots. In this role, you will develop and maintain the mathematical models, parameter estimation pipelines, and feedforward/feedback control systems that allow our robots to operate with exceptional reliability, precision, and efficiency in real production environments.

You will work across the full robotics and autonomy stack - building robust, production-grade software that scales as we deploy more robots into high-throughput operations - while serving as the team's deep expert in system identification, dynamics modeling, and model-based control. You'll collaborate closely with AI, hardware, controls, and infrastructure teams to integrate frontier AI capabilities with rigorous physics-based models, continually improving robot uptime, performance, and overall intelligence.
Responsibilities
  • Design and execute system identification experiments for actuators, mechanisms, and full robot subsystems - motors, arms, elevators, drivetrains - fitting dynamic models via regression and curve-fitting to derive accurate feedforward and feedback controllers.
  • Own kinematic calibration workflows: DH parameter identification, wheel radius estimation, and tool-center-point calibration to drive measurable improvements in arm accuracy and mobile base odometry.
  • Build automated calibration and sys-id tooling that runs on production hardware, enabling rapid re-characterization after mechanical changes, wear, or new platform deployments.
  • Lead design and implementation of robot behaviors and task-level intelligence across the full stack, integrating perception, planning, and control into reliable end-to-end execution across nominal and edge-case scenarios.
  • Drive measurable improvements in autonomy quality and arm accuracy using data, operational metrics, and model validation (diagnostic plots, residual analysis, statistical benchmarks).
  • Collaborate with hardware engineering on software-hardware integration for new platforms and upgrades; triage and resolve production robotics issues.
  • Lead technical design reviews, drive architecture decisions for core subsystems, and mentor engineers and technicians on reliability, testing, and operational excellence.
Qualifications
  • Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
  • 5+ years of software engineering experience building production robotics systems.
  • Strong foundation in dynamics, controls, and system identification - including least-squares regression, parameter estimation, state-space and transfer-function modeling, and feedforward/feedback controller design.
  • Hands-on experience characterizing real electromechanical systems: motors, gearboxes, linear actuators, articulated arms, or similar mechanisms.
  • Strong proficiency in at least one of the following: Rust, Python, C++.
  • Proven ability to design, implement, and maintain complex, high-reliability software systems.
  • Experience integrating software with sensors, actuators, and embedded systems.
  • Familiarity with software best practices including testing, documentation, code reviews, and robust architectural design.
  • Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate across multi-disciplinary teams.
  • Willingness to support production operations through an on-call rotation.
Nice to Have
  • Graduate-level coursework or research in system identification, optimal estimation, or adaptive control.
  • Experience with nonlinear system identification techniques (e.g., extended Kalman filters, particle filters, neural-network-based model learning).
  • Familiarity with physics simulators (MuJoCo, Drake, Isaac Sim) and sim-to-real transfer, including using identified parameters to calibrate simulation environments.
  • Experience with real-time embedded system development, RTOS, or bare-metal firmware.
  • Exposure to automation environments such as warehousing, manufacturing, or logistics.
  • Experience with safety-critical systems.
  • Familiarity with ROS/ROS 2 and standard robotics middleware.
  • Experience building data pipelines for collecting, storing, and analyzing robot telemetry at scale.
Compensation & BenefitsThe pay range for this position at the start of employment is expected to be between $190,000 and $250,000/year. Your exact offer may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition to cash compensation, this position will also receive generous equity for this position.
 
Culture:
We embrace challenges and strive to make the impossible possible each day. We're not in this to do what's easy or to be mediocre. We want to create something legendary and leave our mark on the world. We're ambitious, we're gritty, we're humble and we're relentlessly resourceful in pursuit of our goals. If this sounds like you then you might be a great fit!
 
Nimble Robotics, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We make all employment decisions based solely on merit. We provide equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable state, federal or local laws.
 
Nimble's Benefits
 
Unlimited Flexible Time Off
Enjoy the time you need to travel, rejuvenate, and connect with friends and family.
 
Health Insurance
Nimble provides medical, dental, and vision insurance through several premier plans and options to support you and your family.
 
Paid Parental Leave
Enjoy paid bonding time following a birth.
 
Commuter Benefits
Take the stress out of commuting with access to fully-paid parking spots. 
 
Referral Bonus
Get a cash bonus for any friend or colleagues that you refer to us that we end up hiring. 
 
401k
Contribute towards a 401k for retirement planning.
 
Equity
Be an owner in Nimble through our equity program

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