What are the responsibilities and job description for the Founding Robotics Engineer in Loco-Manipulation position at UCR?
UCR (Under Control Robotics) builds multipurpose robots to support human workers in the world’s toughest jobs—turning dangerous work from a necessity into a choice. Our work demands reliability, robustness, and readiness for the unexpected—on time, every time. We’re assembling a mission-driven team focused on delivering real impact in heavy industry, from construction and mining to energy. If you're driven to build rugged, reliable products that solve real-world problems, we’d love to talk.
About the role
The work at UCR is a team sport. As a founding engineer, you will own and play a pivotal role in building control systems and AI models that power real-world robotic missions, and continuously improve them to meet evolving customer needs. Specifically, as a robotics engineer focused on loco-manipulation, you will contribute to developing unified control architectures and AI models that enable robots to move and manipulate seamlessly. The focus is on achieving terrain-adaptive locomotion across all environments—including uneven ground, varied stairs, and unstable surfaces like sand and rebar—combined with high-payload, dual-arm gross manipulation capabilities.
Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and implement control systems and AI models for mobility and whole-body manipulation, from task specification to real-world hardware deployment.
- Write clean, high-performance code in Python and modern C
- Collaborate closely with experts across disciplines to ensure system robustness and expand the robots’ functional capabilities.
- Conduct hands-on testing and debugging on hardware to validate software performance, reliability, and safety.
- Experimental design to evaluate system behavior and performance across both software and hardware components.
- Research to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements and breakthroughs in robotics, AI, and control systems.
Qualification
- Master's degree or higher in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Control, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- Strong mathematical foundation in nonlinear dynamics, probability, and statistics.
- 3 years of professional experience with modern C and Python.
- 3 years of experience working with robotic hardware platforms involving
- More than six actuators and
- More than two types of sensor feedback (e.g., vision, force, IMU, tactile)
- Proven track record in developing at least one of the following:
- Machine learning methods for multiple heterogeneous robotic problems.
- Optimal control techniques for multiple heterogeneous robotic platforms.
Nice to have
- Hands-on experience with vision & perception.
- Expertise in developing physical engines and motor control.
- Experience in deploying robotic controllers in real-world, customer-facing environments.
- Ph.D. in robotics, or a related field.
We value a proven track record and hands-on experience far more than titles, resumes, or academic credentials.