Model Predictive Control Jobs in Sacramento, CA (NOW HIRING)

Job Description:

About Nextpower

Nextpower is a global leader in intelligent solar tracker and software solutions, optimizing solar power plant performance worldwide.

Within Nextpower, the Robotics and Autonomy team is building and deploying robotic systems that operate at scale in real solar environments. These systems combine perception, planning, control, embedded compute, and cloud infrastructure to increase inspection capacity, improve safety, and enable scalable operations.

We are seeking a Autonomy Engineer to help accelerate the next phase of that growth. This role focuses on advancing real-world autonomy performance across the navigation stack and enabling robots to operate more independently, more efficiently, and at greater scale.

This is a systems-level role spanning perception, planning, and control. You will work directly on robots, in the field and in test environments, to ensure the system performs reliably under real-world conditions.

Role Overview

We are scaling both the capability and deployment of our robotic systems. As autonomy improves, the system must support more robots per operator, operate with higher levels of autonomy across diverse environments, and maintain consistent performance as complexity increases.

This role is focused on building and improving a tightly integrated autonomy stack that works end-to-end on the robot. You will operate within constrained embedded systems where compute, bandwidth, and power are limited, requiring thoughtful tradeoffs in model selection, algorithm design, and system architecture. You will design and implement perception, planning, and control systems, validate them on real hardware, and continuously improve performance through testing, simulation, and data-driven iteration.

You are expected to own system behavior, not just individual algorithms. This means understanding how the full stack behaves in real environments, identifying gaps, and driving improvements that make the system more capable, reliable, and scalable.

Core areas of responsibility include:

• Developing and improving autonomy capabilities across perception, planning, and control

• Getting systems working on real robots, not just in simulation

• Debugging and resolving issues observed in real-world operation

• Building and using simulation, log replay, and data pipelines to accelerate iteration

• Collaborating across hardware, integration, and test teams to ensure system-level performance

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field

• 5+ years of experience in robotics, autonomy, or related fields, with demonstrated experience developing software for robotic or autonomous systems in real-world environments (not just simulation)

• Strong proficiency in at least one of the following: C, C++, Python, or Rust

• Strong experience with Linux command-line environments, Git, and Docker

• Strong experience with ROS2-based systems

• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to debug complex system behavior

• Strong hands-on experience working with physical robotic systems

• Coachable and able to operate effectively within a fast-moving, collaborative team

Preferred Qualifications

• Developing and deploying perception systems such as:

  • Terrain classification
  • Object detection, recognition, and tracking
  • Semantic understanding of environments
  • Model training, evaluation, deployment, and inference optimization on constrained embedded systems (e.g., CUDA, TensorRT, ONNX Runtime)

• Designing and implementing robot control and planning systems, including:

  • Low-level path control (e.g., Model Predictive Control (MPC))

  • Path planning algorithms such as A*, Dijkstra's algorithm, or similar

  • Multi-robot planning or coordination

• Building sensor fusion, filtering, localization, and/or state estimation algorithms, such as:

  • Kalman Filters, Extended Kalman Filters (EKF)

  • Graph-based optimization methods

  • Characterizing sensor and motion noise

• Working with simulation tools such as Gazebo or similar

• Using log replay, data pipelines, and performance visualization to debug and improve systems

• Applying CI/CD, release processes, and test-driven development in robotics systems

• Debugging networking, remote systems, or communication stacks in deployed environments

• Operating and deploying systems in outdoor, field robotics environments, including working under compute, bandwidth, and latency constraints

Join Us

At Nextpower, we are building robotic systems that operate at scale in real environments.

As a Senior Autonomy Engineer, you will play a critical role in advancing autonomy capabilities and enabling the next stage of system growth. This is an opportunity to work on real robots, solve real problems, and help scale a system that is already delivering value in the field.

Nextracker offers a comprehensive benefits package. We provide health care coverage, dental and vision, 401(K) participation including company matching, company paid holidays with unlimited paid time off, generous discretionary company bonuses, life and disability protection and more. Employees in certain positions may be eligible for stock compensation. All plans are in accordance with relevant plan documents. For more information on Nextracker's benefits please view our company website atwww.nextracker.com.

Pay is based on market location and may vary based on factors including experience, skills, education and other job-related reasons. The annual salary range for this position is 160K to 190K.

At Nextpower, we are driving the global energy transition with an integrated clean energy technology platform that combines intelligent structural, electrical, and digital solutions for utility-scale power plants. Our comprehensive portfolio enables faster project delivery, higher performance, and greater reliability, helping our customers capture the full value of solar power. Our talented worldwide teams are redefining how solar power plants are designed, built, and operated every day with smart technology, data-driven insights, and advanced automation. Together, we're building the foundation for the world's next generation of clean energy infrastructure.

Nextpower is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.