Machine Learning Software Engineer

Foundational Industries

17h•Onsite

About The Position

Foundational is building a network of AI-native, autonomous factories for modern contract manufacturing, reshoring critical supply chains so companies can produce high-quality products domestically, quickly, and at competitive cost. Recent breakthroughs in robotics and physical AI have shifted autonomous manufacturing from theoretical to deployable, and we’re focused on operationalizing these capabilities at scale during a decisive decade for American industrial leadership. This role is for a Machine Learning Software Engineer who will design, develop, test, and deploy software systems for advanced robotic and autonomous platforms used in industrial and automation environments. The role involves working on motion planning, kinematics, perception, and real-time control systems to enable robust, autonomous robotic operations. A note on pace: this is a startup building something genuinely hard. The people who do best here bring a sense of urgency that’s internal, not installed. If you need the environment to create pressure for you, this probably isn’t the right fit. If you’re the one creating pressure for the environment, keep reading.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (or foreign equivalent) in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a closely related technical field.
Minimum of three (3) years of progressive, post-baccalaureate professional experience in software development, with a specific focus on developing software for robotic or autonomous systems.
Proficiency in software development using Python and/or C++.
Demonstrated experience utilizing ROS or ROS2 for robotic system development.
Foundational knowledge of motion planning, kinematics, or robotic control algorithms.
Experience integrating software systems with physical hardware components, such as sensors, actuators, or industrial equipment.
Ability to debug and troubleshoot across software-hardware boundaries.
Familiarity with real-time or embedded systems concepts.

Nice To Haves

Experience in developing and configuring software components within robotic operating frameworks (such as ROS/ROS2) for industrial robotic arms, collaborative robots, or autonomous material handling systems.
Experience in industrial automation, manufacturing, or factory environments.
Experience with computer vision libraries (e.g., OpenCV, PCL) or depth-sensing hardware (e.g., LiDAR, RGB-D).
Familiarity with standard industrial communication protocols (e.g., OPC UA, MQTT, Modbus, EtherCAT).
Experience utilizing physics-based simulation platforms for robotic validation.
Familiarity with machine learning frameworks applied to robotic perception, control, or physical AI foundation models.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and maintain scalable software architectures and real-time control systems for robotic platforms using C++ and/or Python.
Build and integrate perception software, including computer vision, depth sensing, and point cloud processing, to enable robotic systems to interpret dynamic environments.
Write, optimize, and validate motion planning and kinematics algorithms for tasks such as object manipulation, path planning, obstacle avoidance, and multi-axis motion control.
Integrate robotic software with physical hardware, sensors, actuators, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and standard industrial communication protocols.
Build, maintain, and utilize simulation environments to test, validate, and benchmark robotic behaviors and control algorithms prior to physical deployment.
Debug, analyze, and resolve complex software, firmware, and hardware-software integration issues in active operational environments.
Partner with cross-functional engineering teams, including controls, hardware, and artificial intelligence groups, to deploy and iterate on production-ready robotic systems.