Senior / Staff Robotics and Controls Engineer

What You’ll Do:

• Design, implement, and verify robotic control algorithms for Capstan's
  catheter-based surgical platform — kinematics, dynamics, teleoperation,
  and motion control.
• Develop forward and inverse kinematic models for continuum and tendon-
  driven mechanisms, and validate them against real-world data.
•  Build trajectory engines, drive modes, and constraint-aware motion
  algorithms that translate surgeon intent into safe, precise catheter motion.
• Design and execute characterization studies on actuators, tendon
  transmissions, and full system performance; translate experimental results
  into models, parameters, and acceptance criteria.
• Define algorithm-level performance specifications and hazard-driven fault
  detection thresholds; partner with Systems and Quality to support design
  verification and regulatory submissions
• Translate clinical and user needs into design requirements, prototype
  rapidly on real hardware, and carry features through verification to
  product launch
• Drive technical direction for path planning, catheter control, or robotics
  algorithms across multiple hardware programs (increased level of
  architectural ownership and cross-program scope for Staff)
• Mentor engineers on the team, lead design reviews, and contribute to
  hiring and onboarding (increased level of mentorship for Staff)
• Document your work through design reviews and released DHF
  documentation, and identify gaps and pitch in as needed to keep the team
  moving

Strongly Preferred:

Strong foundation in robot kinematics and dynamics - forward/inverse kinematics, Jacobians, rigid-body dynamics, and ideally continuum, concentric tube, or tendon-driven systems
Fluent with classical and modern control -- PID, feedforward, model-based, optimal/MPC, impedance/admittance -- and the judgment to know when each is appropriate
Hands-on experience implementing control algorithms in modern C++ (14/17/20) for real-time, safety-critical systems, with Python for rapid prototyping, data analysis, and tooling
Motion planning and trajectory generation experience — constrained nonlinear optimization, collision-aware planning, or task-space control paradigms
State estimation and sensor fusion experience — Kalman/EKF/UKF, particle filters, or nonlinear observers, with a working understanding of noise models and sensor calibration
Comfortable characterizing real electromechanical systems on the bench; you can design the experiment, run it, analyze the data, and turn it into a model.
Close-to-hardware sensibility: encoders, motor controllers, force sensors, brakes, IMUs -- you understand the gap between textbook systems and real ones
Strong object-oriented design instincts, with the discipline to factor algorithm code so it can be unit-tested, reviewed, and maintained as the team scales
Medical robotics or safety-critical systems background -- you know why "it works in sim" or "it works most of the time" isn't good enough
Understanding of how early design decisions cascade into downstream cost; ability to make smart calls on clinical workflow, regulation, and risk management to save time and effort later

Requirements:

BS/MS in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent; MS or PhD preferred
5+ years (Senior) or 8+ years (Staff) of hands-on robotics or controls development; PhD with directly relevant research or projects can offset some industry experience
Track record of shipping robotic control algorithms in real production systems, ideally end-to-end from concept to production, IDE/clinical use, or FDA-cleared product
Experience navigating ambiguity in early- and mid-stage development while delivering concrete, testable results
Experience with medical device development process — design control, risk management, design verification — or equivalent experience in another safety-critical regulated domain
Demonstrated ability to derive math from first principles and implement it in working code; we want the whiteboard and the IDE in the same person
Strong written and verbal communication, meaning that you can write a clear design doc, defend a design review, and explain a controller to a non-controls engineer
Comfortable working hands-on in a lab environment alongside hardware, benchtop fixtures, animals (preclinical), and clinicians
Ability to work in a hybrid work environment, working onsite an average of 3 days a week, in a mix of our Santa Cruz HQ and our new Bay Area office near West Menlo Park.

Bonus

• Flexible robotics experience -- concentric tube robots, tendon-driven, soft, or other compliant manipulators
• Surgical robotics or another regulated, safety-critical robotics background
• Sensing, electromagnetic tracking, or other catheter-tip localization experience
• Experience integrating fluoroscopy, ultrasound, or CT imaging into robotic guidance, registration, or visual servoing
• ROS1 or ROS2 experience in production systems, with an understanding of its real-time tradeoffs
• Working knowledge of regulatory standards (FDA, IEC 62304, ISO 14971, IEC 60601) and how they shape algorithm and architecture decisions
• Experience with simulation environments (Drake, MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, or custom) for development, regression, and verification
• Familiarity with QNX or real-time Linux: you don't have to own the stack, but you should understand the constraints it places on your algorithms
• Track record of technical leadership and mentorship at a comparable medical robotics or capital equipment company