{"id":753967,"url":"https://alion.io/job/apptronik-controls-engineer-actuation","title":"Controls Engineer - Actuation","company":{"id":47983,"name":"Apptronik","domain":"apptronik.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/apptronik","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":85,"open_postings":23,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.391,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":85,"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"}},"role":"Robotics","role_family":"Robotics","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Austin, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":141000,"max_usd":269000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":103},"experience_years_min":4,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Docker","optional":false},{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"Isaac Sim","optional":false},{"name":"MuJoCo","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Sim-to-Real","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-11T14:13:09Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-13","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T16:32:50Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":54,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":54},"description":"Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.\nWe operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.\nJOB SUMMARY\nApptronik is building robots for the real world - to improve human quality of life and help solve the ever-increasing labor shortage. As a Controls Engineer - Actuation on our Controls team, you will own both the actuator models that make our simulation trustworthy and the actuator-level control that runs on real hardware - closing the loop from bench characterization and system identification, through simulator integration, to controller design, tuning, and deployment. You will pair deep motor electromechanics and system-identification skill with strong C++/Python engineering, working hand in hand with our Controls, Firmware, and Simulation teams so that both model fidelity and control performance are driven by how they are actually used on the robot.\nESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES\nDevelop and maintain high-fidelity actuator models in simulation, capturing the physical behaviors (friction, compliance, thermal, torque and current limits) that meaningfully affect real-world performance.\nDesign, tune, and deploy actuator-level control - closed-loop torque and current control and the low-level control that turns commands into reliable joint behavior on hardware.\nDesign and run hardware test campaigns to characterize actuator behavior and extract the parameters that keep both the models and the controllers accurate.\nApply system identification to extract trustworthy physical models from experimental data, and use those models to inform controller design and gain selection.\nQuantitatively validate sim-to-real fidelity - for both the models and the controllers - using appropriate comparison metrics, and understand the limitations of each.\nBuild and maintain robust Python/C++ tooling for experiment automation, model extraction, controller tuning, and simulator integration.\nPartner with the Controls team throughout - aligning on the fidelity and control performance actually needed, how model and controller choices ripple into training and policy performance, and where the actuator layer is the root cause of a sim-to-real gap.\nSupport hardware bring-up and deployment, translating validated models and controllers into real robot configuration.\nSKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS\nStrong C++, including comfort extending a simulator or physics-engine codebase - not just consuming one through a Python interface.\nDeep grounding in motor electromechanics and classical control - closed-loop torque/current control, controller design and tuning, and frequency-domain analysis (e.g. Bode plots, stability margins).\nHands-on actuator or servo control on real hardware: designing, tuning, and validating low-level controllers, informed by system identification.\nHands-on system identification and modeling: structured experiment design and model fitting from real data that feeds both simulation and control.\nProficiency in Python (test automation, data analysis, tooling) and a track record shipping maintainable code under Git in a fast-moving R&D environment.\nComfortable working cross-functionally with controls engineers - focused on how your models and controllers get used, not just whether they fit the data.\nPreferred: experience with dynamometers, motor test stands, and lab instrumentation; motor thermal modeling and gearbox efficiency / backlash characterization; real-time actuator communication protocols and embedded / firmware control; a modern robotics simulator (MuJoCo, Isaac Sim/Lab, Brax) and sim-to-real validation workflows; and Docker with GPU/cloud experiment infrastructure.\nEDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE\nBS in Robotics, ME, EE, CS, or a related field + 4 years of relevant experience; MS in a related field + 2 years of relevant experience; or a PhD in a related field.\nPrior humanoid or legged-robot experience is strongly preferred.\nPHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:\nProlonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer\nMust be able to lift 15 pounds at times\nVision to read printed materials and a computer screen\nHearing and speech to communicate\n*This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations. \nApptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5176,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":4,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Robotics AI","Robotic Components & Sensors","Humanoid Robots"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-11T16:37:53Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 23","filings_12m":23,"filings_prev_12m":20,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":157500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":20}],"liveness":{"score":78,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.871,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":53,"expected_fill_days":85,"reasons":["conf:4","velocity","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/apptronik-controls-engineer-actuation","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/apptronik-controls-engineer-actuation.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T16:52:13Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":25815,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":47983},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=47983"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fapptronik-controls-engineer-actuation"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fapptronik-controls-engineer-actuation"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fapptronik-controls-engineer-actuation"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/apptronik-controls-engineer-actuation\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fapptronik-controls-engineer-actuation"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":753967}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"apptronik.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":753967},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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