Software Engineer (IK / Controls)

About the Team Droyd builds autonomous robotic systems that automate repetitive manual work in real environments. We design and manufacture our hardware in-house, which means iteration, fabrication, and execution all happen under one roof. Our robots need motion systems that are reliable, precise, and practical enough to use in production. Our robotics software team works on the core capabilities that let the system move intelligently in the real world — kinematics, controls-adjacent systems, solvers, and the software that makes manipulation usable. About the Role As a Software Engineer (IK / Controls) at Droyd, you will work on core motion and manipulation problems across inverse kinematics, controls-adjacent systems, and solver-heavy robotics software. You will help improve how the robot plans and executes motion under real-world constraints. This role is highly technical and best suited for someone deeply comfortable with robotics math, implementation, and translating theory into behavior on real hardware. This role is based on-site in San Francisco, CA. In This Role, You'll Motion & Manipulation Improve inverse kinematics and motion-related systems for robot manipulation Work on controls-adjacent and solver-heavy problems in the robotics stack Help close the gap between current system performance and state-of-the-art capability Implementation & Validation Translate physical and mathematical intuition into robust implementation Collaborate closely with software, hardware, and robotics teams to validate solutions on real systems Reliability Contribute to motion behavior that performs reliably in practical environments Balance theoretical rigor with practical system constraints Work Environment & Schedule On-site in San Francisco, CA Full-time Compensation: $140K–$250K base salary, plus equity We're Looking For Candidates Who Have deep experience with inverse kinematics, controls, or robotics motion systems Have strong robotics math and implementation ability Can work independently on hard technical problems with limited guidance Are comfortable moving between theory and practical system behavior Thrive in a fast-moving startup environment Nice to have: Experience with optimization-based robotics methods Experience with manipulation or motion planning systems Experience validating robotics algorithms on real hardware About Droyd Droyd builds autonomous robotic systems that operate in real production environments. We design the hardware, develop the control stack, and generate the data that enables generalist robotics. If we do this right, robots stop being demos and start being infrastructure. Join us and help build the systems that make it real.