About the Team
Droyd builds autonomous robotic systems that automate repetitive manual work in real environments. We design and manufacture our hardware in-house, which means iteration, fabrication, and execution all happen under one roof.
Our robots need motion systems that are reliable, precise, and practical enough to use in production. Our robotics software team works on the core capabilities that let the system move intelligently in the real world — kinematics, controls-adjacent systems, solvers, and the software that makes manipulation usable.
About the Role
As a Software Engineer (IK / Controls) at Droyd, you will work on core motion and manipulation problems across inverse kinematics, controls-adjacent systems, and solver-heavy robotics software. You will help improve how the robot plans and executes motion under real-world constraints.
This role is highly technical and best suited for someone deeply comfortable with robotics math, implementation, and translating theory into behavior on real hardware.
This role is based on-site in San Francisco, CA.
In This Role, You'll
Motion & Manipulation
Improve inverse kinematics and motion-related systems for robot manipulation
Work on controls-adjacent and solver-heavy problems in the robotics stack
Help close the gap between current system performance and state-of-the-art capability
Implementation & Validation
Translate physical and mathematical intuition into robust implementation
Collaborate closely with software, hardware, and robotics teams to validate solutions on real systems
Reliability
Contribute to motion behavior that performs reliably in practical environments
Balance theoretical rigor with practical system constraints
Work Environment & Schedule
On-site in San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Compensation: $140K–$250K base salary, plus equity
We're Looking For Candidates Who
Have deep experience with inverse kinematics, controls, or robotics motion systems
Have strong robotics math and implementation ability
Can work independently on hard technical problems with limited guidance
Are comfortable moving between theory and practical system behavior
Thrive in a fast-moving startup environment
Nice to have:
Experience with optimization-based robotics methods
Experience with manipulation or motion planning systems
Experience validating robotics algorithms on real hardware
About Droyd
Droyd builds autonomous robotic systems that operate in real production environments. We design the hardware, develop the control stack, and generate the data that enables generalist robotics.
If we do this right, robots stop being demos and start being infrastructure.
Join us and help build the systems that make it real.
Skills Required
- Deep experience with inverse kinematics, controls, or robotics motion systems
- Strong robotics math and implementation ability
- Ability to translate physical and mathematical intuition into robust implementations
- Ability to work independently on hard technical problems with limited guidance
- Comfortable moving between theory and practical system behavior
- On-site work in San Francisco, CA (full-time)
- Experience with optimization-based robotics methods
- Experience with manipulation or motion planning systems
- Experience validating robotics algorithms on real hardware
What We Do
Droyd develops autonomous robotic systems designed to automate repetitive manual work for enterprises within real production environments. By designing and manufacturing hardware and control stacks in-house, the company aims to transition robotics from demonstrations to essential infrastructure, specifically targeting the data center ecosystem.
