Founding Robotics Engineer: Navigation & Autonomy
Overview
A pre-seed robotics startup in security and industrial inspection is hiring a Founding Robotics Engineer to own its autonomy stack. The role involves building SLAM, localisation, and navigation systems for heterogeneous robot fleets and scaling them to production. Backed by EWOR, TUM VLABs, and experienced robotics mentors, this is a chance to work on cutting-edge robotics and AI in a high-impact domain.
Location & Work Mode
Munich, Germany
Travel: Customer sites across Germany and Europe in short blocks.
Compensation
Salary range: 80k-120k€.
Equity: Competitive VSOP/ESOP.
Key Responsibilities
Build and own SLAM, localisation, mapping, and navigation systems for indoor and outdoor environments.
Select, combine, and calibrate sensors like lidar, depth, RGB, thermal, IMU, and GNSS.
Generalise the autonomy stack across quadrupeds, wheeled robots, and drones.
Test and tune systems on real robots using benchmarks and field data.
Define what runs on robots versus the cloud, including failure and fallback mechanisms.
Deploy the stack to production at customer sites and extend it to multi-robot coordination.
Must Have
Experience taking SLAM or an autonomy stack to production at real customer sites.
Expertise in SLAM, localisation, state estimation, and motion planning.
Proficiency in ROS2, C++, and Python.
Hands-on experience with quadrupeds, wheeled robots, or drones and their sensors.
MSc or PhD in a relevant field, or equivalent proven experience.
Good to Have
Knowledge of multi-robot coordination, including shared maps, task allocation, and swarm control.
Experience with perception, computer vision, and learning-based SLAM and localisation.
Familiarity with simulation tools for robotics.
Knowledge of German language
Additional Information
The role offers full ownership of your area, working with real robots at customer sites, and a clear path into leading deployments. You will collaborate with a supportive and inclusive team backed by experienced robotics mentors and investors. The contract is permanent and full-time.
Key Skills & Technologies
Primary tools, core competencies, and technical domains relevant to this role:
What to Expect
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