{"id":127495,"url":"https://alion.io/job/apptronik-firmware-engineer-actuation","title":"Firmware 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":"B","score":83,"open_postings":23,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.478,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":77,"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","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":119000,"max_usd":231000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":568},"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Altium Designer","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Docker","optional":false},{"name":"EtherCAT","optional":false},{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Simulink","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-02T21:07:38Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-24","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T16:53:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":106,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":106},"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\nWe are seeking a Firmware Engineer to help develop actuation and motor control firmware for humanoid robots. You will collaborate with our existing actuation firmware team to design, implement, optimize, and test brushless motor control firmware, real-time current and torque control loops, and the embedded systems that bring our actuators to life. You will contribute to system identification, controller tuning, and hard real-time performance optimization across a fleet of actuators deployed in production humanoids. You will support hardware bring-up, contribute to HIL and SIL test strategies for actuation, and help own firmware quality and reliability as we scale from prototypes to fleets of hundreds and thousands of devices in the field. As you grow on the team, you will participate in code and design reviews and contribute to the architectural direction of our actuation stack alongside your peers.\nESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES\nCollaborate with controls, systems, electrical, mechanical, and software engineers to architect the next generation of humanoid actuators.\nCollaborate with the actuation firmware team to develop, deploy, and maintain motor control firmware, including field-oriented control (FOC), current controllers, and torque control for BLDC and other brushless motor topologies.\nContribute to system identification, plant modeling, and controller tuning for production actuators, ensuring consistent performance across units, temperature, and load conditions.\nHelp shape and execute the Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) testing strategy to validate actuation performance, safety, and reliability at scale.\nDesign and implement fault detection, fault injection, and recovery mechanisms for safety-critical motor control systems.\nHelp drive firmware quality, reliability, and field performance for fleets of hundreds to thousands of actuators deployed in production humanoid robots, including telemetry, diagnostics, and root-cause analysis of field failures.\nWork with cross-functional engineering teams to bring up actuation hardware from prototype through production.\nParticipate in code reviews, design reviews, and pair debugging; help raise the bar for firmware quality across the team.\nContribute to technical decision-making on tooling, processes, and architectural patterns that scale with the team and product.\nSKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS\nBachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience; Master's degree with a focus on controls or motor drives is especially valued.\nMinimum of 3 years of relevant industry experience developing production-grade embedded software, with experience contributing to firmware systems from concept through deployment.\nProficiency in C/C++; working knowledge of Python, Docker, and Git.\nExperience developing motor control firmware for BLDC or other brushless motors, including field-oriented control (FOC), current control, and torque control.\nHands-on experience developing hard real-time embedded firmware in production environments.\nExperience deploying firmware to devices in the field, including exposure to telemetry, diagnostics, and field reliability.\nExperience with EtherCAT for real-time motor control communications.\nStrong hardware debugging skills using tools such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.\nAbility to read and interpret electrical schematics (Altium Designer preferred) and hardware datasheets.\nExperience with embedded communication protocols such as SPI, UART, RS485, and CAN.\nStrong collaboration and communication skills, with a desire to grow technical leadership within a team setting.\n\nEDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE\nExperience with humanoid robotics, industrial robotics, or other high-performance servo applications.\nStrong fundamentals in classical and modern control theory, with hands-on experience in system identification and controller tuning for production motor drives.\nExperience developing in C and C++ for TI C2000 microcontrollers.\nFamiliarity with safety-critical embedded system design standards, including MISRA C and ISO 26262.\nExperience with model-based design tools (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink) for control design and code generation.\nExperience with encoder and current sensing front ends, and gate driver ICs (e.g., DRV8353).\nContributions to firmware tooling, build systems, or developer infrastructure.\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":5828,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"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":"2026-07-02T21:07:38Z"}],"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":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":1}],"liveness":{"score":31,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.703,"p_room":0.44,"age_days":106,"expected_fill_days":77,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/apptronik-firmware-engineer-actuation","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/apptronik-firmware-engineer-actuation.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-17T17:15:03Z","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":23748,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:00Z"}},"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-firmware-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-firmware-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-firmware-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-firmware-engineer-actuation\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fapptronik-firmware-engineer-actuation"}]}