Title
Control Software Engineer
Quick Summary
Arcadia Motion Systems is hiring a Control Software Engineer to design, implement, and validate motion control software for mobile and industrial robots. The role combines plant modeling, controller design, embedded integration, and rigorous testing to deliver smooth, safe, and repeatable behavior in the field. We welcome strong graduates and early-career engineers with demonstrated projects in controls or mechatronics; experienced candidates will be considered for broader technical ownership.
Project Category or Industry
Robotics, motion control, and industrial automation.
Type
Full-time employment.
Experience Level
Entry to mid-level with structured mentorship and clear growth pathways; senior applicants are encouraged to apply and may lead critical initiatives.
Duration
Permanent role.
Location
Remote-first with optional hybrid hubs in Austin, Texas and Munich, Germany. Maintain at least four hours of collaboration overlap with teams operating between UTC−6 and UTC+2. Limited travel for on-site commissioning and customer pilots.
Salary
USD 100,000–145,000 base depending on location and experience, plus comprehensive benefits and an annual performance bonus. Equity participation may be available for senior candidates.
Payment Mode
Monthly payroll for employees; compliant contractor arrangements available in select countries when required.
Hiring Company Name
Arcadia Motion Systems
Required Skills or Tools
Strong foundations in control theory and numerical methods; proficiency in C++ and Python; familiarity with embedded Linux and real-time considerations; practical experience with ROS 2, plant identification, actuator interfaces, and sensor calibration; ability to write clear documentation and diagnostics for operators and field engineers.
Project Description
Arcadia Motion Systems develops motion stacks that transform high-level trajectories into safe, precise actuation across wheels, joints, and auxiliary devices. As a Control Software Engineer, you will own portions of the motion pipeline from modeling through deployment, designing controllers that tolerate disturbances, respect hardware limits, and yield predictable performance across environments. Your work will bridge simulation, bench rigs, and integrated robots to ensure that what is proven in the lab translates to reliable behavior in production.
Core Responsibilities and Expected Deliverables
Model plants and disturbances; select and tune controllers for trajectory tracking, velocity regulation, and stability under load.
Implement control modules in modern C++ with deterministic timing, saturations, and safety interlocks, exposing clean ROS 2 interfaces and diagnostics.
Integrate estimator outputs for state feedback; manage calibration procedures, coordinate frames, and time bases to maintain control integrity.
Build automated test harnesses and regression suites in simulation and on hardware; publish performance dashboards that track overshoot, settling time, energy use, and thermal margins.
Collaborate with platform, perception, and safety teams to define requirements, acceptance tests, and release criteria; produce user-facing runbooks.
Required Experience and Preferred Qualifications
Demonstrated skill in classical and modern control techniques, including loop shaping, state feedback, observers, and constraint handling.
Hands-on experience with electromechanical systems such as brushless drives, servo loops, and motor controllers; comfort reading schematics and datasheets.
Preferred exposure to model predictive control, adaptive or gain-scheduled controllers, and fault-tolerant architectures.
Familiarity with safety standards and hazard analysis for industrial or mobile robots is a plus.
Evidence of impact through internships, open-source contributions, competition teams, or shipped prototypes.
Tools or Platforms to Be Used
Middleware and frameworks: ROS 2 with deterministic executors; Fast DDS or Cyclone DDS.
Control and analysis: MATLAB or Python with NumPy, SciPy, and control libraries; logging and replay with rosbag2.
Build and CI: CMake or Bazel, GitHub Actions, clang-tidy, sanitizers, and hardware-in-the-loop setups for continuous verification.
Interfaces: CAN and Ethernet fieldbuses, gRPC or similar telemetry bridges; vendor toolchains for motor drives.
Language Requirement
Professional English is required. German is beneficial for Munich-based work; additional languages are welcome.
Communication Style
Written-first collaboration with design documents and pull requests; Slack for day-to-day coordination; Zoom for stand-ups, design reviews, and test debriefs. All changes include operator-focused documentation and change logs.
Time Commitment or Working Window
Forty hours per week with flexible scheduling. Hold a predictable daily block that overlaps at least four hours with the core team between 09:00 and 17:00 in your local time. Short early-morning or evening test windows may be scheduled during commissioning.
Payment Terms
Salary is paid monthly via payroll. For contractors, invoices are processed on net thirty terms upon acceptance of deliverables and approved timesheets.
Evaluation Criteria
Portfolio and code samples demonstrating control rigor, attention to timing, and measurable improvements in stability or efficiency.
Practical exercise to implement and validate a motion controller with bounded overshoot and documented safety interlocks, including a reproducible test harness.
Technical interview covering modeling assumptions, estimator interactions, disturbance rejection, and failure modes.
Collaboration interview focused on documentation quality, cross-team alignment, and stakeholder communication.
References may be requested.
Other Requirements
New hires sign a confidentiality agreement and follow security and data-handling policies. Lightweight time-tracking may be used for distributed coordination. Export control compliance may apply based on nationality and project assignment.
About Arcadia Motion Systems
Arcadia Motion Systems is a privately held engineering company focused on high-reliability motion control for robots in logistics, manufacturing, and smart infrastructure. Headquartered in Austin with a distributed team across North America and Europe, Arcadia partners with original equipment manufacturers to turn advanced control theory into robust, maintainable software. Learn more at https://www.arcadiamotion.com and contact our hiring team at careers@arcadiamotion.com.