At Pickle Robot, we're on a mission to automate global supply chains with Physical AI. Our robots work alongside warehouse teams to unload trucks and containers — one of the toughest, most understaffed jobs in logistics — making the work safer, faster, and more efficient for the people doing it. Loading trucks comes next, followed by the Dill Autonomy Engine: generalized autonomy that will eventually orchestrate robots across entire logistics processes.
We're looking for a Software Engineer to join our Task & Motion Planning team, which decides what our robots pick, how they grasp it, and how they move safely and quickly through a cluttered, changing trailer. We're looking for someone who brings strong software engineering fundamentals, a track record of shipping production code, and a genuine interest in motion planning and grasping.
You'll design and build fast, reliable, well-tested planning systems that run on real robots every day. Your code will directly affect how many boxes come off a truck per hour and how often a robot needs a human's help, and you'll see those results on the warehouse floor.
What You'll Do
Design, build, and maintain production C++ and Python components of our planning stack, including motion planning, grasp selection, collision checking, and task sequencing
Take algorithms, your own and your teammates', from prototype to deployment, owning the architecture, performance, and robustness of the implementation
Profile and optimize performance-critical code so planners meet real-time cycle-time targets on robot hardware
Build the testing, simulation, and benchmarking infrastructure that lets the team change planning code with confidence
Improve the reliability of the planning stack in the field by debugging failures from production logs, building tooling for triage, and fixing root causes
Help raise the bar for code quality through design reviews, code reviews, and good engineering practices
What You'll Bring
2–4 years of experience writing and shipping production software, primarily in modern C++ (C++17 or later), with working proficiency in Python
Strong fundamentals in software design, data structures, algorithms, and performance optimization
Experience owning components end-to-end: design, implementation, testing, deployment, and ongoing support
Solid understanding of concurrency, memory management, and profiling tools
A real interest in motion planning, manipulation, and grasping, and eagerness to go deep on the algorithms alongside domain experts
Comfort working close to hardware and debugging problems that span software and the physical world
Nice to HaveHands-on experience with motion planning or manipulation (e.g., sampling-based or optimization-based planners, trajectory generation, grasp planning)
Experience with CUDA or GPU performance optimization
Familiarity with robotics libraries and frameworks such as OMPL, Drake, FCL, or Pinocchio
Background in 3D geometry, kinematics, or linear algebra (Eigen or similar)
Experience with simulation environments and large-scale regression testing for robotics or other safety-critical systems
Experience deploying software on physical robots in production environments
Skills Required
- 6+ years of experience shipping and maintaining end-to-end machine learning systems; an MS degree counts as two years
- Demonstrated success deploying machine learning models in complex physical robotic systems
- Deep expertise designing and modifying bespoke neural network architectures
- Experience architecting and operating medium-to-large-scale machine learning training pipelines in cloud environments
- Mastery of Python and modern software engineering practices
- Knowledge of classical robotics, including motion planning, kinematics, geometry, and perception
- BS or higher in Robotics, Computer Science, or a closely related technical field
- Ability to communicate complex machine learning concepts and collaborate across engineering disciplines
- Ability to work from the Charlestown, Massachusetts headquarters at least three days per week
- Background spanning both perception and motion planning
- Experience with Isaac Sim or MuJoCo
- Experience with Google Cloud Platform
- Use of AI coding assistants in daily development workflows
What We Do
We believe the best working experience is one where machines do the heavy lifting and people do the problem solving. Our robots work with people in the messy world of warehouse loading docks, reducing the real physical pain of unloading trucks and containers radically amplifying what each person can accomplish. Founded by an exceptional cast of robotics and machine learning experts, Pickle creates robots that work alongside people in the very messy world of the loading dock, reducing the backbreaking human effort that goes into getting your online orders to your door.
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