{"id":4315071,"url":"https://alion.io/job/gram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead","title":"Robotics Controls Engineer Lead","company":{"id":673569,"name":"GRAM","domain":"gram.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/gram-3","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-11-14T05:58:10Z"}},"role":"Robotics","role_family":"Robotics","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":true},{"name":"Drake","optional":true},{"name":"MuJoCo","optional":true},{"name":"Pinocchio","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-14T13:54:50Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-14","last_verified_at":"2026-11-14T15:23:53Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":0,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":0},"description":"About the company\nGRAM Corporation scales skilled labor for the physical economy. We design, manufacture and operate insectoids, general-purpose machines not built in our image. They work in large populations on the critical infrastructure nations depend on. The electric grid comes first. Our research is in how those populations coordinate and keep themselves running. The goal is Self-Replication (SR), the point where a population of machines delivers more labor than it takes to build and run.\nThe role\nYou will own locomotion controls for GRAM’s multi-legged robot, from the low-level actuator loops to whole-body control on uneven terrain. Model-based control is the priority, and learning-based control experience is a bonus. This is a hands-on role: you will write the controllers yourself, tune and prove them on the robot, and work closely with the Autonomy, Simulation and Systems Integration teams. You start as an individual contributor, with a path to build and lead a controls team as the company grows\nResponsibilities:\nDevelop and implement model-based locomotion control systems for multi-legged robots.\nWrite and optimize low-level actuator loops and whole-body control algorithms.\nTest and validate control systems on physical robots in various terrains.\nCollaborate with Autonomy, Simulation, and Systems Integration teams for seamless integration.\nContribute to the research and development of innovative control strategies.\nProvide technical leadership and mentorship as the team expands.\nRequired Skills:\nBachelor's or Master's degree in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.\nStrong expertise in model-based control systems for robotic platforms.\nExperience with low-level actuator loop development and optimization.\nProficiency in programming languages such as C++ and Python.\nKnowledge of learning-based control methods is a plus.\nExcellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.\nStrong teamwork and communication skills.\nWhat you will do:\nOwn locomotion and whole-body control for the multi legged robot on uneven terrain, and the body state estimation from IMU, joints and contact that it runs on.\nOwn low level actuator control and system identification of actuators and contact.\nSet measurable targets for tracking, stability, disturbance rejection and latency, and prove them on hardware.\nTune, debug and validate controllers on the robot, working with the Autonomy, Simulation and Systems Integration teams.\nWhat you bring:\nModel predictive control or whole-body optimization-based control, deployed on physical hardware with measured results.\nSolid grounding in rigid body dynamics, forces, contact stability and latency.\nStrong C++ and Python.\nExperience with state estimation for legged or floating base robots.\n8+ years of hands-on controls work on physical robots. A PhD in controls or robotics lowers the experience bar\nNice to have:\nLegged robot experience strongly preferred.\nExperience integrating learned policies with a model-based controller\nTrajectory optimization and reduced order models for legged locomotion.\nTorque controlled or quasi direct drive actuators.\nFootstep planning and integration with terrain perception.\nTuning hardware and controllers for repeated impact loading.\nTools such as Drake, Pinocchio or MuJoCo.\nWhy join\nA clean slate: define how a new multi-legged robot moves.\nEarly equity, included in the package\nThe chance to own a domain and build a team around it as the company scales.\nA hands-on culture where engineers work directly on the core technology.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3569,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Robotics AI","Robotic Software & Control Systems"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-14T15:23:53Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":29,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-11-14T16:46:05Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/gram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/gram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-14T16:46:05Z","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":19120,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-15T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"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":673569},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=673569"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fgram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"free","price":{"credits":0,"usd":0},"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%2Fgram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"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%2Fgram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead"},{"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/gram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fgram-robotics-controls-engineer-lead"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":4315071}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"gram.ai","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":4315071},"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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