Staff Robotics Engineer

ABOUT LAUNCHPAD

Launchpad is transforming manufacturing through AI-powered automation. Our Digitool platform

combines advanced AI, machine vision, and robotics to enable rapid, precise, and cost-effective product

assembly, helping manufacturers compete at a level previously out of reach. We closed our Series A and

are scaling fast across our Los Angeles and Edinburgh teams.

ROLE OVERVIEW

We’re looking for a Staff Robotics Engineer to own integration and test across our Digitool platform. This

is a hands-on role. You’ll be on the floor with real machines as much as you’re in code. You’ll drive the

technical rigor that bridges our ROS2 software stack, PLC-based machine behavior, and physical

hardware into a system that reliably performs in production environments.

This is a Staff-level individual contributor role with real technical authority. You’ll set integration

standards, define test methodology, mentor engineers across the stack, and be the person who figures

out why something isn’t working when the answer isn’t obvious. The day-to-day engineering work is El

Segundo based, but this role operates across both our LA and Edinburgh teams. You’ll need to work

between them, and traveling to Edinburgh is a part of the job.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own end-to-end integration and test for the Digitool platform: ROS2 nodes, perception pipelines, motion

control, PLC state machines, and electromechanical subsystems

• Define and implement integration test strategy across hardware-in-the-loop, simulation (Gazebo/Isaac),

and live machine validation, with clear pass/fail criteria and repeatable automation

• Debug across the full stack: software, firmware, PLC ladder/structured text, mechanical, and electrical, and

know which layer the problem lives in

• Develop and enforce behavior specifications for PLC-driven machine sequences, including safety interlocks,

fault handling, and state transition logic

• Collaborate with our Edinburgh team on architecture decisions and ensure they land correctly in

production hardware

• Establish and maintain test infrastructure: CI pipelines for ROS2 packages, automated trial logging, and

performance benchmarking against production targets

• Travel to Edinburgh and to customer sites for system deployment and commissioning support

• Mentor mid-level engineers on integration discipline, test design, and systematic debug methodology

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of hands-on experience in robotics, automation, or mechatronic systems engineering

• Deep ROS2 proficiency: node architecture, lifecycle management, DDS configuration, real-time constraints,

and hardware interface layers

• Direct experience with industrial PLC platforms (Beckhoff TwinCAT, Siemens, Allen-Bradley, or equivalent),

reading and writing control logic, not just interfacing with it

• Strong Python and C++; comfortable reading and modifying firmware or low-level driver code when

needed

• Proven track record debugging integrated systems where the failure mode spans software, electrical, and

mechanical domains

• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing and simulation-based validation

• Ability and willingness to travel internationally (~20–25%)