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 Applied 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
At the core of every robot policy we ship is a simulation platform that has to be fast enough for RL training, accurate enough for controls validation, and stable enough to be the team's daily driver. As Staff Software Architect for Core Simulation Platform, you'll own the architecture of that platform — the distributed systems, performance engineering, and large-scale infrastructure decisions that let it run millions of parallel experiences a day. You don't need a deep robotics or simulation background to thrive here: what matters most is a track record of architecting complex, high-performance, distributed software systems. We'll pair you with senior team members who bring domain depth in physics and robotics.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Own the architecture of the core simulation platform — high-performance distributed systems that serve as the foundation for policy training, controls validation, and CI/CD integration testing.
- Design and drive the build-out of cloud-native pipelines capable of generating millions of experience hours per day, architecting how compute-heavy workloads parallelize and scale for rapid iteration.
- Define the platform's core abstractions and APIs, ensuring the system stays extensible as new physics, sensor, and rendering capabilities are added by domain specialists.
- Set technical direction on performance, reliability, and scalability, identifying and resolving systemic bottlenecks in a large, high-throughput distributed system.
- Define the platform roadmap and review major design proposals, ensuring improvements visibly reduce iteration time for RL, controls, and perception teams.
- Partner with Controls, AI Research, and Perception leadership to translate their evolving needs into a coherent, extensible architecture as the platform grows.
- Establish architectural standards and mentor senior engineers on system design, bringing outside experience in distributed systems and software architecture into a robotics context.
SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS
- Excellent C++ and/or Python programming skills, with a strong track record of applying them to large-scale system architecture
- Deep experience architecting distributed, high-throughput, or real-time software systems — this experience can come from robotics, gaming, simulation, high-frequency trading, large-scale backend infrastructure, or similar domains
- Proven experience architecting workloads on cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Ray, Kubernetes)
- Deep familiarity with software development best practices: CI/CD, automated testing, and code quality standards
- Track record of making and defending architectural trade-offs (performance vs. flexibility, latency vs. throughput) and communicating them clearly to engineers and leadership
- Comfort ramping up quickly in a new technical domain, and partnering closely with subject-matter experts in physics, robotics, and ML to translate their needs into system design
At least one of:
- Understanding of robotics concepts: kinematics, dynamics, controls, system identification
- Experience with modern robotic simulators (Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, or equivalent)
- Understanding of Reinforcement Learning, with research or production experience
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- 7+ years of software engineering experience, including significant time in a software architecture or technical leadership role on complex, large-scale systems
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
- Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
- 7+ years of software engineering experience
- Significant experience in software architecture or technical leadership on complex, large-scale systems
- Excellent C++ and/or Python programming skills
- Experience architecting distributed, high-throughput, or real-time software systems
- Experience architecting workloads on AWS, GCP, or Azure
- Experience with distributed computing frameworks such as Ray or Kubernetes
- Familiarity with CI/CD, automated testing, and software development best practices
- Ability to evaluate, defend, and communicate architectural trade-offs
- Ability to ramp up in new technical domains and partner with physics, robotics, and machine learning subject-matter experts
- At least one of: robotics concepts including kinematics, dynamics, controls, or system identification; modern robotic simulators such as Isaac Lab or MuJoCo; or reinforcement learning research or production experience
Apptronik Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage includes multiple UnitedHealthcare plan options with an employer-paid portion, plus mental health benefits and FSAs. The presence of standard medical, dental, and vision categories indicates a solid core offering.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Flexible PTO, paid holidays and sick days, and paid parental leave are explicitly highlighted. Manager-approved hybrid/remote days further support time away when needed.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Company equity and performance bonuses are part of the total-rewards mix, with relocation assistance available for some roles. These components can add meaningful upside to base compensation for many positions.
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.
