Robotics Software Engineer II (Boulder, CO)

PickNik Inc.•Boulder, CO

6d•$110,000•Hybrid

About The Position

PickNik Robotics is seeking a Robotics Software Engineer to join their team in Boulder, CO. This role involves building the next generation of robots and contributing to the MoveIt Pro platform, which uses AI and advanced motion planning to automate tasks. The engineer will work on full-stack development, from hardware integration and motion planning to platform features and APIs. The position requires a strategic mindset for designing scalable solutions, anticipating edge cases, and collaborating with a global team. The work impacts various industries and robot deployments across prototype, pilot, and production environments.

Requirements

Minimum 3 years of professional work experience.
Strong C++17 (or newer) experience.
Familiarity with at least one scripting language, preferably Python.
Experience with JavaScript, especially in interaction with ROS 2 applications.
Experience with robot arm hardware integration, such as trajectory controller development and driver development for commercial hardware.
Extensive knowledge of software development in Linux.
Experience with ROS 2.
Experience with full life-cycle library and application development, Git version control, software testing, and continuous integration.
Ability to travel approximately every other month to customer sites & conferences.
Live in the Boulder/Denver area.
Ability to be in-office at least 3 days per week.
Degree(s) in Computer Science, Robotics, Engineering, or a related field and/or equivalent industry experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience with multiple robot description formats, such as URDF and MJCF.
Experience with ros2_control hardware interfaces for 500+ Hz drivers.
Experience shipping and maintaining a software+hardware solution in production.
Knowledge of processes to measure and tune communication middleware.
Previous projects involving ROS 2, MoveIt 2, Nav2, Mujoco, or other robotic libraries.
General understanding of graph theory, algorithm design, simulation, motion planning, inverse kinematics, and/or control systems.
Understanding of cross-platform, multi-language package management tools such as Pixi.
Demonstrated industry ability to deliver complex projects.
Advanced degrees are a plus.

Responsibilities

Help scope, design, and develop scalable improvements to the MoveIt Pro platform.
Write software that runs on robots globally, including hardware integration and motion planning.
Develop platform features and APIs for customer use.
Test edge cases to ensure production readiness.
Contribute to closed and open-source projects.
Collaborate with teams around the world.
Debug performance issues.
Engage in pair programming on multidisciplinary regressions.
Test CUDA compatibility.
Investigate user pain points.
Travel to customer sites & conferences approximately every other month (less than 20% of the time).
Be in-office at least 3 days per week.