Sr. Robotics Controls Engineer in San Francisco

Polymath Robotics is creating software that can safely control all of the world's industrial vehicles. We’re a close-knit group of experts working to bring autonomous vehicles to various industries quickly. We believe this moment in robotics and autonomy is as groundbreaking as the PC industry of the 80s. Founded by Stefan Seltz-Axmacher (previously founded Starsky Robotics) and Ilia Baranov (previously led robotics teams at Amazon and Clearpath Robotics), Polymath was started to solve the problem of every industrial vehicle company rebuilding the same autonomy stack from scratch—badly. Our focus is on heavy, unforgiving vehicles like haul trucks, wheel loaders, excavators, tractors, and port machinery. Making a 40-ton articulated machine track a path smoothly and handle its implements safely is the core of what we do.

Responsibilities

• Be a leader on the team, mentoring others in controls best practices.
• Design, implement, and tune vehicle controllers across a wide range of industrial platforms: path tracking, speed control, articulated and Ackermann steering, and implement/hydraulic control (booms, buckets, blades).
• Own the vehicle dynamics layer: system identification, actuator characterization, and building control strategies that work across machines with different mass, geometry, and actuation.
• Integrate with drive-by-wire systems over CAN/J1939, working directly with DBW integrators to specify feedback signals, fail-safe behavior, and loss-of-comms handling.
• Contribute to our work in ROS2, filling in gaps and enhancing our architectural framework where controls meets planning and behavior.
• Design and validate safety-critical behaviors: safe-stop trajectories, protective stop response, and graceful degradation when sensors or actuators misbehave.
• Commission and tune controllers on real vehicles at customer sites, from mines to farms. Expect some travel and real-world validation of your work.
• Communicate with prospective clients to align expectations and ensure our control capabilities cover their vehicles and use cases.
• Maintain high ownership of your work, witnessing firsthand the impact of your controllers on customer vehicles performing real tasks.

Your First 90 Days

• First 30: Get a vehicle moving. Learn our stack (ROS2, controls layer, DBW interfaces), drive test platforms in sim and in the yard, and review commissioning logs to see where controllers break.
• By 60: Own the controls work stream for an active customer vehicle. Run system identification, tune path tracking and speed control, and defend your decisions in design reviews.
• By 90: Provide commissioning support for new vehicles. Validate your controller on the real machine at full payload and own the resulting punch list.

Requirements

• Expertise in one or more of the following: classical and modern control (PID, MPC, LQR, pure pursuit), vehicle dynamics and system identification, CAN/J1939 and drive-by-wire integration, C++, Python, ROS/ROS2.
• 6+ years of experience working on autonomous robots or vehicles, including time spent tuning controllers on physical machines rather than only in simulation.
• A passion for high ownership of work and a collaborative spirit, with the ability to contribute anywhere on the stack as needed.
• Experience with hydraulics, heavy equipment, or functional safety standards (ISO 13849, ISO 3691-4) is a plus.

Benefits

• Collaborative Environment: Work alongside fantastic team members on collaborative projects.
• Hybrid Workplace: Enjoy a hybrid work model, with engineering based in our SF Mission office three days a week for a balance of maker time and synchronization.
• Open Source Advocacy: Strong support for open-source robotics efforts, allowing your work to be shareable and publishable.
• Humor & Passion: A team driven by passion and humor, accelerating the realization of autonomous vehicles in the industry.