Autonomy Engineer, Robotics Behaviors

Andromeda Robotics is an ambitious social robotics company with offices in Melbourne and San Francisco, dedicated to creating robots that seamlessly and intelligently interact with the human world. Our first robot, Abi, is a testament to this vision—a custom-built platform designed from the ground up to be a helpful aid and intuitive partner in aged care homes. We are a passionate, collaborative team of engineers solving some of the most challenging problems in AI and robotics. To accelerate our development and ensure Abi's reliability, we are seeking a foundational member to build out our capabilities to train and test our robot in simulation.

We are looking for a first-principles Autonomy Engineer to solve one of the hardest challenges in robotics: enabling our robot, Abi, to navigate safely and gracefully alongside people. This role starts with simple A-to-B navigation but goes far beyond that. You will be responsible for developing the core decision-making and behavior logic that allows Abi to understand, predict, and react to the complexities of human-centric environments like aged care homes.

This is a chance to build a production-grade autonomy stack from the ground up and ship a product that has a meaningful impact on people's lives.

This role can be performed from either one of our two primary locations: South Melbourne, VIC, Australia or San Francisco, CA, USA.

• Develop the Brains of Navigation: You will design and implement the core decision-making and motion planning stack for Abi. This includes creating algorithms for navigating crowded hallways, negotiating right-of-way in social contexts, and ensuring all movements are safe, smooth, and predictable.
• Predictive Behavior Modelling: You will build models that predict the motion and intent of people in Abi's vicinity. You'll move beyond simple obstacle avoidance to create a system that anticipates human behavior, enabling more intelligent and socially aware interactions.
• Build Robust Fail-Safes: You will rigorously define the operational design domain (ODD) and develop robust, verifiable safety and fallback systems. Your work will ensure Abi can identify and safely handle edge cases and system limitations.
• Data-Driven Development: You will own the full data lifecycle. This includes identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), creating automated data collection and evaluation pipelines, and using real-world fleet data to find failure modes and drive algorithmic improvements.
• Simulation & Validation: You will use high-fidelity simulation scenarios to test complex interaction logic at scale, ensuring our software is validated against millions of diverse and challenging situations before it's deployed to hardware.

• A proactive, first-principles thinker who is excited by the prospect of owning a critical system at an early-stage startup.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Engineering, or a related field.
• 3+ years of professional experience autonomous systems for complex systems like robots, autonomous vehicles, or drones.
• Strong programming proficiency in C++ and Python.
• Experience with robotics simulation platforms (e.g., NVIDIA Isaac Lab, Gazebo, CARLA, AirSim) and physics engines (e.g., PhysX, MuJoCo).
• Excellent understanding of core robotics principles (kinematics, dynamics, perception, and control).
• Experience with ROS/ROS2.
• Strong experience developing testing and deploying at least one of the following: 
• Perception (Lidar / camera machine vision)
• Mapping and planning algorithms 
• SLAM
• Motion control (MPC and similar) 

• PhD in a relevant field.
• Experience with robotics in human rated environments.
• Experience with the certification of a robot in human environments (eg. ISO-13482).

The salary for this position may vary depending on factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional benefits or components based on the specific role. Details will be provided if an employment offer is made.

If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every requirement, that’s okay—we encourage you to apply. At Andromeda Robotics, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Let’s build the future together.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Please note: At this time, we are generally not offering visa sponsorship for this role.