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Lead Robotics Software Engineer - Architecture & Systems

In this position, you will guide the architecture, development, and long-term evolution of the core robotics software platform that powers our clinical robotic systems. You will be responsible not only for designing high-performance, safety-critical software system that integrates the core robotics functions into a full system— but also for driving the system architecture, technical decisions, engineering practices, and cross-functional alignment that enable the entire robotics organization to deliver at a higher level.

This role is ideal for an experienced engineer who thrives at the intersection of hands-on development and team leadership, and who has a track record of building real-world robotic systems with exceptional performance and reliability.

What You’ll Do

• Own the overall software architecture for the medical robotic device, setting the long-term technical direction of the full stack — including state estimation, planning, control frameworks, real-time infrastructure, and safety systems.
• Lead multiple technical workstreams, ensuring that perception, planning, controls, and systems software integrate seamlessly into a unified, high-performance platform. You don't own the motion of the robot - but you make sure that it all ties into a seamless architecture and controls.
• Solve complex, system-level challenges, such as timing budgets, throughput requirements, deterministic real-time execution, and robust error handling across distributed components.
• Establish engineering standards and design patterns that elevate code quality, maintainability, and long-term scalability.
• Drive technical reviews and architectural decision-making, guiding the team through trade-offs involving latency, reliability, computational footprint, and deployment constraints.
• Manage, mentor and develop robotics software engineers, providing hands-on coaching in areas such as ROS2 best practices, real-time C++, perception/control integration, and performance optimization.
• Partner with hardware, systems, and clinical engineering to define system behavior, safety envelopes, and the requirements for mission-critical features.
• Lead validation of robotic behaviors in the lab and clinical-like environments, ensuring safe operation in proximity to patients and clinicians.
• Enable scalable architecture design across multiple robotic platforms and Formalize the software development practices, documentation, and peer-review processes
• Advance the team’s capabilities in algorithmic sophistication, including multi-sensor fusion, motion generation, collision avoidance, and modeling — raising the bar on technical excellence.
• Stay ahead of emerging technologies (e.g., improved middleware, optimized control frameworks, new sensor stacks), making informed recommendations about where to adopt and where to innovate internally.
• Represent the robotics software organization in cross-functional leadership discussions, helping set priorities and drive clarity between engineering, product, and operational needs.

About You

• Degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 7+ years building and delivering production systems, including real-world deployment, in the medical device industry
• Understanding and experience in medical compliance and/or medical device product development
• Demonstrated experience leading architecture, design, and integration for multi-component systems.
• Expert-level C++ skills with strong Python capability.
• Prior leadership in building and maintaining safety-critical or real-time software systems.
• Proven ability to guide teams through ambiguity, resolve technical disagreements, and drive toward solutions that balance performance, safety, and delivery.
• Clear and confident communicator capable of presenting complex technical concepts to executives, clinicians, and cross-functional partners.
• Motivated by building technology that improves human outcomes, contributes to clinician workflow, and delivers precision and safety at every level.
• Authorized to work in the United States indefinitely.

Bonus Points

• Experience delivering robotics systems in medical, manufacturing, or other semi-structured domains, ideally robotic arm applications
• Strong depth in one or more core areas: whole-body control, model-predictive control, multi-sensor fusion, motion planning, mapping, or collision modeling.
• Deep experience building and deploying robotics systems in ROS2, including DDS configuration, lifecycle management, real-time execution, and system bring-up.
• History of refactoring or evolving legacy systems into cleaner, more scalable architectures
• Experience building test frameworks for robotics software, including simulation-based validation, HIL/SIL testing, or CI pipelines.

Benefits

• Equity: Company stock options.
• Insurance Coverage: medical, dental, and vision insurance available
• Unlimited PTO and a full winter shutdown
• Relocation Assistance: Relocation assistance is available to move you near facility in the Columbus, OH area