Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.
We operate at the cutting edge of embodied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.
JOB SUMMARY
We are seeking an early-career Simulation Engineer to join our growing Simulation team as a generalist contributor. This is an opportunity to learn humanoid simulation across its full breadth — from physics and contact modeling through scene authoring, asset pipelines, and developer tooling — while contributing to multiple ongoing initiatives at once.
You will work across several of the team's focus areas, with near-term emphasis on supporting our dexterous-hand simulation work. As we hire a senior owner for the Dexterity domain, you will help build the foundational infrastructure they will grow into, and over time develop depth in the area where your interests and the team's needs align best.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Dexterity Foundations: Build and maintain hand collision geometry (primitive decomposition, mesh cleanup). Author evaluation scenes and dexterity benchmarks in Isaac Lab / Isaac Sim from specifications. Run sim-to-real comparison experiments and produce comparison reports.
- Design-Time Simulation: Contribute to the CAD-to-simulation pipeline — kinematic graph extraction, collision geometry, mass and inertia property handling. Run design-space exploration experiments per protocols defined by senior team members.
- Robot Description & Asset Pipeline: Help maintain canonical robot models — joint limits, inertias, collision properties. Build and maintain regression tests and validation tooling for the robot assets the rest of the org depends on.
- Production Platform Contributions: Contribute to the simulation platform's tooling, examples, CI infrastructure, and developer documentation. Triage user-reported issues and help unblock other teams using the platform.
- Team Contributions: Own onboarding docs and example scenes that help new engineers get productive on the platform — your perspective as the newest team member is a real asset here.
SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS:
Must-Have- 0–2 years of professional software engineering experience (strong internship or research project experience qualifies)
- Strong Python skills
- Solid fundamentals: rigid body dynamics, linear algebra, spatial math, programming
- Coursework or project experience with robotics simulation, computational geometry, or computer graphics
- Demonstrated curiosity and willingness to work across multiple domains rather than specializing immediately
- Hands-on experience with Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, Gazebo, or equivalent simulator (coursework or projects count)
- Familiarity with USD, URDF, MJCF, or other robot/scene description formats
- Exposure to mechanical engineering, robot hardware, or sim-to-real workflows
- Some C++ exposure
- Internship or research experience in robotics, gaming, or graphics
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:
- BS in Computer Science, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, or related field. MS welcome but not
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times
- Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
- Hearing and speech to communicate
*This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.
Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Skills Required
- Deep experience with modern robotics simulators (Isaac Sim or MuJoCo)
- Strong understanding of Universal Scene Description (USD)
- Strong Python skills for scripting, pipeline automation, and analysis
- Proficiency in C++
- Solid understanding of kinematics, rigid body dynamics, collision geometry, and spatial math
- Experience converting CAD into simulation-ready assets with accurate collision meshes and joint limits
- Experience building high-fidelity evaluation scenes and modeling physical properties in simulation
- Experience implementing teleoperation and retargeting interfaces for human input devices (VR gloves/controllers)
- MS or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
- 2+ years of experience working with robotic simulation
- Ability to collaborate effectively between hardware design and software/control teams
Apptronik Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Open paid time off alongside paid holidays and sick time is highlighted, providing broad latitude for time away.
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Flexible Benefits — A hybrid model with manager-approved remote work at least two days per week and flexible hours supports day-to-day flexibility.
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Healthcare Strength — Multiple UnitedHealthcare plan options are offered with an employer-paid portion of premiums, and health coverage is characterized as good to great.
Apptronik Insights
What We Do
Apptronik is building robots for the real world to improve human quality of life and to help solve the ever-increasing labor shortage problem. Our team has been building some of the most advanced robots on the planet for years, dating back to the DARPA Robotics Challenge. We apply our expertise across the full robotics stack to some of the most important and impactful problems our society faces, and expect our products and technology to change the world for the better. We value passion, creativity, and collaboration to help us overcome existing technological barriers in the industry to create truly innovative products.
Why Work With Us
At Apptronik, we don't see a future where man competes against machine. Instead, we envision a harmonious world where man and machine coexist. Our mission statement, "It is not Man vs. Machine, but Man + Machine," encapsulates our belief that the synergy between humans and robots will pave the way for a brighter, more advanced future.
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Apptronik Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
