Manager, Robotics Software

ICON • Austin, TX

3d • Onsite

About The Position

ICON is seeking a Manager to lead and grow its Robotics Software team. The manager will lead robotics engineers, prioritizing their growth, retention, and effectiveness while applying technical expertise to establish standards, make architecture decisions, and provide leadership with a clear view of team capacity and risks. The role is based at ICON's Austin, Texas headquarters and reports to the Director of Robotics.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field.
• At least 7 years developing production software in C++ or a comparable systems language, with hands-on experience in robotics, embedded systems, motion control, or real-time systems.
• At least 3 years directly managing teams of five or more engineers, including performance management and hiring.
• Sufficient current technical depth to evaluate architecture and design decisions and credibly disagree with senior technical staff.
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of performance.
• Experience leading a team that ships software running on physical hardware subject to external and dated milestones.
• Experience establishing engineering standards and test infrastructure.
• Demonstrated success developing engineers, with specific examples of people advanced to higher levels of responsibility.

Nice To Haves

• Background in large-scale industrial robotics, construction technology, autonomous systems, or heavy equipment.
• Familiarity with real-time Linux, EtherCAT or comparable industrial fieldbus protocols, and motion control architectures.
• Exposure to functional safety standards for robotic systems, such as ISO 13849 or IEC 62061.

Responsibilities

• Manage, coach, and grow a team of robotics engineers and contractors.
• Hold weekly one-on-one meetings and maintain a written development plan for every direct report.
• Own the interview and onboarding process and be accountable for new-hire success beyond six months.
• Establish, document, maintain, and enforce robotics software engineering standards, including definition of done, code review expectations, test coverage, and subsystem ownership.
• Partner with staff engineers on architecture and design reviews and provide independent technical judgment.
• Work with project, product, and design teams to plan and advocate for engineering capacity across concurrent programs, making allocation decisions explicit and planned.
• Give the Director of Robotics and cross-functional stakeholders a clear, current picture of the team's work, risks, and constraints.
• Support internalization of technical knowledge and intellectual property from external development partners.
• Protect capacity for tooling, test infrastructure, and technical debt amid feature and field-schedule pressure.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager