Principal Controls EngineerFoundation Robotics Labs Inc. • San Francisco, California, United States, 94107

Principal Controls Engineer

Foundation Robotics Labs Inc. • San Francisco, California, United States, 94107

[job_card.variable_days_ago]

[job_preview.job_type]

[job_card.full_time]

[job_card.job_description]

Foundation

About Us

Foundation is developing the future of general purpose robotics with the goal to address the labor shortage.

Our mission is to create advanced robots that can operate in complex environments, reducing human risk in conflict zones and enhancing efficiency in labor-intensive industries.

We are on the lookout for extraordinary engineers and scientists to join our team. Your previous experience in robotics isn't a prerequisite — it's your talent and determination that truly count.

We expect that many of our team members will bring diverse perspectives from various industries and fields. We are looking for individuals with a proven record of exceptional ability and a history of creating things that work.

All positions are based in San Francisco.

Our Culture

We like to be frank and honest about who we are, so that people can decide for themselves if this is a culture they resonate with. Please read more about our culture here https : / / foundation.bot / culture .

Who should join :

You like working in person with a team in San Francisco.
You deeply believe that this is the most important mission for humanity and needs to happen yesterday.
You are highly technical - regardless of the role you are in. We are building technology; you need to understand technology well.
You care about aesthetics and design inside out. If it's not the best product ever, it bothers you, and you need to “fix” it.
You don't need someone to motivate you; you get things done.

Why are We Hiring for this Role

To develop and optimize the control systems that enable precise, smooth, and safe motion in our humanoid robots.

To bridge the gap between AI-generated action models (e.g., RL policies) and the robot’s physical execution by designing robust motion planning, state estimation, and lower-level control architectures.

To create full-body controllers that seamlessly integrate inputs from action models with real-time feedback, ensuring high performance in complex environments.

To ensure our robots can execute tasks reliably, from manipulation to locomotion, while maintaining stability and efficiency.

To scale our controls stack for deployment across various robot configurations, supporting a wide range of customer applications.

What Kind of Person are We looking for

Strong background in control theory, including linear and nonlinear systems, feedback control, stability analysis, and optimal control methods.

Proficiency in state estimation techniques, such as Kalman filters, particle filters, or sensor fusion for estimating robot pose, velocity, and dynamics from noisy sensor data (e.g., IMUs, encoders, vision).

Experience with low-level control strategies, including PID controllers, torque control, velocity control, and position control for actuators and joints.

Skilled in developing full-body controllers that integrate multiple degrees of freedom (DoF), handling kinematics, dynamics, and inverse kinematics.

Ability to translate high-level action outputs (e.g., from AI or RL models) into low-level commands such as joint angles, torques, velocities, and forces.

Familiarity with optimization techniques for trajectory planning, model predictive control (MPC), and real-time feedback integration.

Experience with reinforcement learning (RL) for control policies is a strong plus.

Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ and Python.

Experience with robotics middleware (e.g., ROS2) and real-time control systems.

Strong understanding of numerical methods and computational algorithms for control.

Ability to analyze complex motion requirements and design control algorithms to meet them.

Comfortable troubleshooting control issues in a physical robot and iterating quickly to improve performance.

Comfortable working with hardware-in-the-loop systems and integrating controls with physical robots.

Collaborates effectively with AI researchers, mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers to ensure seamless system integration.

Minimum of 5 years of experience in controls engineering, motion planning, or a similar field; experience from humanoids is ideal but not required. Transferable skills from drones, autonomous vehicles, or industrial robotics are welcome if they include state estimation and low-level controls.

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field. A PhD is a plus.

Experience with real-time operating systems and control frameworks is highly desirable.

Benefits

We provide market standard benefits (health, vision, dental, 401k, etc.). Join us for the culture and the mission, not for the benefits.

Salary

The annual compensation is expected to be between $180,000 - $280,000. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.

PIc1df4781cbdb-30511-39680925

[job_alerts.create_a_job]

Principal Controls Engineer • San Francisco, California, United States, 94107

[internal_linking.similar_jobs]

Principal Software Engineer II

Snowflake Computing • Menlo Park, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Snowflake is about empowering enterprises to achieve their full potential and people too.With a culture thats all in on impact, innovation, and collaboration, Snowflake is the sweet spot for buildi...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Principal Solutions Engineer

Freshworks • San Mateo, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Be among the first 25 applicants.At Freshworks, we build uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional customer and employee experiences. Our enterprise-grade solutions are powerful, yet ...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]

Principal Software Engineer

HighNote • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Founded in 2020 by a team of leaders from Braintree, PayPal, and Lending Club, Highnote is an embedded finance company that sets the standard in modern card platform management.We've raised $145M+ ...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Head of Controls Engineering

Neara • Menlo Park, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Job type : Full Time • Department : Controls Engineering • Work type : On-Site.Palo Alto, CA | Full-time | Member of Technical Staff. At Matter, we’re rebuilding America’s industrial might to fuel huma...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]

R & D Engineer 5 (0443) Job 83887 - Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC)

InsideHigherEd • Berkeley, California, United States

[job_card.full_time]

R & D Engineer 5 (0443) Job 83887 - Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC).At the University of California, Berkeley, we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and ca...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]

Principal Engineer, Platform & Applications

Protingent • Hillsborough, CA, United States

[job_card.permanent]

Position Title : Principal Engineer, Platform & Applications.Position Description : Protingent Staffing has an exciting remote Direct Hire opportunity. Define and own the multi-year technical architec...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_less] • [promoted] • [new]

Software Senior Principal Engineer- Distributed Systems

Dell • Atherton, CA, US

[job_card.full_time]

Senior Principal Software Engineer.The Software Engineering team delivers next-generation software application enhancements and new products for a changing world. Working at the cutting edge, we des...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Principal Software Engineer II

Streamlit • Menlo Park, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Snowflake is about empowering enterprises to achieve their full potential and people too.With a culture that's all in on impact, innovation, and collaboration, Snowflake is the sweet spot for build...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Nuclear Engineer

U.S. Navy • Tara Hills, CA, US

[job_card.full_time]

To be eligible to enlist in the U.Navy, candidates must be between the ages of 18-34.The most powerful energy sources in the world need the most powerful minds behind them.As a Nuclear Reactors Eng...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_1_day] • [promoted]

Principal Software Engineer (Parsing)

AllSpice, Inc. • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Help Shape The Future Of Hardware Development.At AllSpice, we're turning opaque binary design files into open, scriptable data, and building a common interface layer for hardware developmentthink G...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Principal Software Engineer, Privileged Access Management

Rival Inc • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Saviynts Enterprise Identity Cloud helps modern enterprises scale cloud initiatives and solve the toughest security and compliance challenges in record time. The company brings together identity gov...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Principal Engineer

Adyen • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Facebook, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice.At Adyen, ev...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]

Principal Software Engineer

Medium • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Viants customers use the Demand Side Platform (DSP) to set up, run and monitor ad campaigns.The platform team owns a complex set of backend services and the frontend UI that make up the DSP.These s...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Principal Software Engineer

CEF • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

We offer highly competitive compensation and founder?level equity for this senior technical position.Your true remuneration will depend on your experience and skill set, so please discuss details w...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Director Field Procurement Operations

Vaco by Highspring • El Cerrito, California, United States

[job_card.permanent]

Director Field Procurement Operations.Hands-on procurement leadership role supporting distributed, field-based operations. Discretionary, performance-based.Short-Term Incentive Plan (STIP) : .Long-Ter...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]

Principal Software Engineer

Early Warning Services • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

At Early Warning, we've powered and protected the U.Zelle, Paze?, and so much more.As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services ...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Principal Software Engineer

Stealth AI Startup • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

Not a chatbot bolted on the side.A foundational platform that changes how products are discovered, understood, and transacted online. This role is ideal for someone who wants to be a.GenAI-driven co...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]

Principal Software Engineer

GradBay • San Francisco, CA, United States

[job_card.full_time]

If you enjoy building from first principles, staying close to product, and working with other sharp operators, keep reading. Youll join small, high-trust product teams where engineers own outcomes, ...[show_more]

[last_updated.last_updated_variable_hours] • [promoted] • [new]