Head of Robotics & AI

Head of Robotics & AI - CTRL+RWe're looking for a founding engineer with deep experience in robotics and AI to help build the operating layer for physical AI—one unified platform to manage and operate robots at scale. Our platform has been under development for 8 months and the MVP is live, but we need someone who can 1) take ownership of the product, 2) overcome the complexities of various robotic systems and broaden our use cases, and 3) integrate AI and computer vision into our offering. If you're someone who likes overcoming massive challenges and wants to redefine how robots and physical AI systems are operated at scale, keep reading.(NOTE: if you do not have practical, hands-on experience with robots, please do not apply. A background in AI is not sufficient for the complexity of robotic systems.)The Problem with Robotics:1. Lack of standardization - Every robotics manufacturer has their own unique interface & specs required to operate their robots.Most companies have to build their own software in-house and use multiple systems just to operate their robots.2. Robots are difficult to use - Robots require highly specialized expertise in custom systems.General companies are forced to hire expensive robotics engineers or specialized firms in order to use robots.3. Robotics teams struggle to scale - Each new robot deployment or team member added requires separate training, onboarding, and integration.Growing a robot fleet/expanding a team becomes painfully slow.Our Solution:CTRL+R is a real-time operations platform for robots and physical AI systems:Teleoperation Fleet management (detailed logs, user permissions, interoperability)Fully customized robotic control (use a keyboard, gaming controller, VR headset, etc, and use custom ROS commands)And moreCTRL+R is intuitive for first-time operators, yet powerful and customizable for advanced robotics teams managing diverse fleets. -For robotics teams: CTRL+R is your unified platform to operate, manage, and monitor your entire robot fleet. No more building in-house software or switching between softwares - CTRL+R gives you a single system to run your fleet as it scales.-For retail, construction, and more: CTRL+R gives teams real-time visibility into physical operations, helping them monitor site conditions, verify task execution, and extract data-driven insights from anywhere.What's Next (AI):The first step is finalizing the robotic control/fleet management platform. The next step is implementing AI into our software to 1) streamline new robot onboarding, 2) allow multi-robot communication and coordination, and 3) bringing computer vision to industries where physical AI can help businesses save/earn time and money. Over time, the data collected from these robots will actually improve how they operate. Better decisions, less human intervention, more intuitive control, and systems that get smarter over time.Who We're Looking For:You prioritize efficiency over all elseYou are half-human, half-Vulcan like SpockYou take pride in what you buildYou are impatientYou do stuff when you say it'll be done (and if not, you communicate why not)You can make complex topics easy to understand for non-expertsYou can think big AND smallImpact is one of your core driversTLDR;You're a great problem solver, and you do it fast. Must-Have Skills:Deep experience with ROS2, including building and debugging distributed robot systemsStrong programming skills in Python and C++ or Rust (you’ve shipped production systems, not just prototypes)Experience building on (and debugging) real robot hardware, not just simulationExperience with creating and deploying AI systems (data collection, labeling, training on real-world datasets, iterating, etc)Hands-on experience designing computer vision, perception, or decision systemsSolid understanding of distributed systems and system architecture (you’ve designed systems that coordinate multiple services, devices, or nodes)Experience building data pipelines for robotics or sensor-heavy systems (video, LiDAR, telemetry, etc.)Strong modern AI skills - you can use Cursor/Claude to be 10x more efficient at pushing codeComfortable working across edge and cloud environments (AWS, on-device compute, APIs, backend infrastructure)Strong debugging skills across the full stack, from robot to backendWhy would you leave your job to come work at CTRL+R?AI is moving into the physical world, but most industries are not using it yet.Robotics is growing fast, but the software layer is still immature. If we get this right, CTRL+R becomes the default way robots are operated across multiple industries and robot manufacturers. As a founding engineer, you have the opportunity to build an industry-defining product, build your team, and change the future. If you're ambitious, skilled, and impatient, reach out.