Robotics Software Engineer

About the Company
We are on a mission to bring human-like intelligence to robots.
We believe our workforce should focus on innovation and creativity; dull, dangerous, or dirty jobs should be left to robots. Our solution is powered by a type of Artificial Intelligence called Active Inference, letting robots learn resilient skills and adapt to situations they weren't explicitly trained for.
We’re a pre-Series A startup punching well above our weight, tripling our team since 2023 while building solutions for some of the world’s largest companies - including Fortune 20 customers and government contracts.
About the Team
We are a small, senior team [a varied mix of experience ranging from startups to Microsoft and Amazon], and we like working with people who came to robotics by unique and unusual routes.
We're dedicated to supporting new team members, and we care deeply about your career growth and personal development. We're a hybrid/remote team that values work-life balance, diverse perspectives, and learning from each other.
About the Job
You'll join the founding team building robotic arm systems. Enough work exists today that you won't start from a blank page; yet enough is missing that you'll own real pieces of it.
Four main areas, though they overlap more than the list suggests. Expect to work across them rather than inside one:
Motion planning – computing collision-free paths through an environment.
Control – executing those paths on real hardware, reliably.
Perception – object detection and scene reconstruction.
Manipulation – grasping and dexterous handling of objects.
You'll have people to collaborate with, including a team that answers questions, reviews your work, and shows up when something breaks. You'll be given direction, but not a detailed plan, as much of this is still unmapped. This position suits someone who takes ownership: finds the problem, solves it, and sees it through.
Job Responsibilities
Design, build, and maintain software that runs in both simulation and on real hardware.
Prototype fast to prove out ideas, then do the less glamorous half: hardening what works into systems that deploy and stay up.
Measure what the robot actually does: build the tests and metrics that catch regressions and close the gap between sim and reality.
Job Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
4+ years of relevant industry experience.
Domain knowledge of robotics such as Dynamics, Controls, Planning, Estimation, and Computer Vision.
Proficiency in Python.
Experience with C++, Git, ROS/ROS2, and Simulators (Mujoco, Gazebo, etc.).
Documentation and Communication Skills.
Nice to have
Real-time software & multithreaded systems.
3D math, linear algebra, embedded systems, signal processing.
Interest in Active Inference or Machine Learning.
Employee Benefits
12 paid holidays
Unlimited PTO, 2 week minimum
Flexible work hours policy
Hybrid/Remote work Schedule (CA/WA preferred)
100% Health, Dental and Vision coverage (Kaiser offered in CA)
Equity Incentive Package
$50/month for Health and Wellness
ThoughtForge does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity or expression), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability (physical, mental or sensory), genetic information, age, parental status, military service and veteran status, hair-style, tattoos or piercings or other non-merit based factors. In addition, we're committed to providing a collaborative and healthy workplace for our employees and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

Work arrangement
Yes