Senior Robotics Control Engineer

Position Title: Interactive Systems Developer (Hybrid Designer/Frontend Engineer)
Location: San Francisco, CA (In-Office, 5 Days/Week)
Position Type: Full-Time (Permanent)
Work Policy: Onsite Only
Relocation Assistance: Yes ($5–10k)

Compensation

• Equity: Yes (no bonus program)
• Notes: Salary varies by interview performance, level, and location.

Role Summary
Interactive Systems Developer responsible for designing and developing real-time, interactive applications combining robotics control, gaming-style UI, and front-end engineering. This role blends 60–90% design and 10–40% coding, depending on project needs. Work spans robotics UIs, 2D/3D visualization, game-like interactions, and touchscreen-based interfaces.

Core Responsibilities
Build interactive front-end applications for robotics control, feedback visualization, and simulation.
Design and implement touchscreen-based robotic control interfaces.
Develop 3D visualizations using frameworks such as Three.js, Unity, Unreal, or Babylon.js.
Integrate sensor data, control systems, and user interaction flows.
Develop performant web interfaces using TypeScript + React or Lit.
Rapidly prototype interactive tools combining gaming, robotics, and front-end development.
Ensure usability, accessibility, and performance across products.
Collaborate with hardware and software teams on user-centered design initiatives.

Must-Have Qualifications

• First full-time designer/engineer owning end-to-end design: user research → concept → design → prototype → implementation.
• Design portfolio required (must show shipped products; internal tools acceptable).
• Demonstrated 0→1 product creation experience (founding designer, indie game, early-stage builder, etc.).
• Experience in mobile gaming or robotics/device control interfaces.
• Strong UX instincts and customer requirements gathering background.
• Light coding (10–50%).
• Experience with:
• Game development or interactive 3D applications (Unity, Unreal, etc.)
• TypeScript + modern frontend frameworks (React, Vue, Lit, etc.)
• 2D/3D rendering engines (Three.js, Babylon.js, Godot, Pixi.js)
• Work history involving products actively in use (not purely research).
• Comfortable viewing of live surgical procedures.
• Willing to travel up to 1× per month.

Preferred Qualifications

• CS degree
• Startup experience
• Human-Machine Interface (HMI) or Human-Robot Interface (HRI) experience
• Understanding of real-time systems or WebSockets
• Familiarity with physics engines (PhysX, Bullet, Box2D)
• 3D modeling experience
• Mobile platform experience (React Native, Flutter)
• Accessibility and inclusive design experience

Unlikely to Hire

• Overly research-heavy designers with limited shipped product experience.

Insider Notes

• Ideal candidates come from gaming or robotics UI backgrounds.
• Pure designers or pure coders are not a match unless they’ve produced unique HMI work (e.g., Tesla in-car UI, the first iPhone UI).
• Will join a 2-person frontend team.
• Travel may include Chile, Bulgaria, and New Zealand, depending on commercial needs.
• Search keywords: HMI, HRI.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $175,000.00 - $275,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person