Principal Simulation Engineer - Simulation (Universal Robots, Bangalore - India)

Our Purpose

TERADYNE, where experience meets innovation and driving excellence in every connection. We are fueled by creativity and diversity of thought and in our workforce. Our employees are supported to innovate and learn something new every day. We cultivate a culture of inclusion for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences enable us to be a better team - one that makes better decisions, drives innovation and delivers better business results.

Universal Robots, part of Teradyne Robotics, is the world market leader in collaborative robots (cobots), making products that empower our customers and positively transform the way they work. Teradyne Robotics is a division of Teradyne and includes Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). Our global R&D organization of 200+ engineers builds the software and systems behind every cobot we ship.

Opportunity Overview

You will join, and help lead, a team of talented and passionate engineers developing, testing, and optimizing the software and systems running on and around our various robot platforms.

As Principal Simulation Engineer, you will be the senior technical leader for robot simulation in Bangalore. You will set the architecture and technical direction for how we simulate UR cobots and MiR mobile robots at scale - physics, robot and sensor models, scenario orchestration, and validation - so that engineers, application teams, and customers can trust simulation to reduce integration time and de-risk deployments before a single unit reaches a customer floor.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will architect critical systems, write code where it matters most, mentor engineers, and shape the simulation roadmap together with leadership across the global R&D organization in Denmark and Bangalore. You will work closely with research scientists on world models and 3D scene generation, with ML teams on robot learning, and with application engineers who understand real customer deployments.

Your responsibilities and tasks include:

• Own the end-to-end technical architecture of the simulation platform, including physics, robot and sensor models, scene management, and scenario orchestration.
• Define and drive the simulation technical roadmap in partnership with product, research, and engineering leadership.
• Lead the development of high-fidelity robot models - kinematics, dynamics, actuators, controllers, grippers, and contact behaviour - validated against real hardware data.
• Establish sim-to-real validation methodology, fidelity metrics, and benchmarks that tie simulation results to integration time and fleet performance.
• Architect scalable, GPU-accelerated, and parallel simulation for reinforcement learning, imitation learning, synthetic data generation, and large-scale testing.
• Guide multi-agent and fleet-level simulation for UR and MiR robots working together in shared environments.
• Evaluate, select, and integrate physics engines, simulators, and third-party tools, and make clear build-versus-buy recommendations.
• Mentor and grow simulation, graphics, and software engineers; lead design reviews and set engineering standards and best practices.
• Represent the Bangalore simulation team in cross-site technical forums and influence decisions across Teradyne Robotics.
• Partner with product, application, and customer-facing teams to translate real deployment challenges into simulation capabilities.
• Contribute directly to critical code paths, prototypes, and technical spikes to de-risk new directions.

All About You

We seek individuals who share our passion and determination. Our commitment to customer success drives us to go the extra mile. If you're ready to join us in this mission, take a closer look at the minimum criteria for the position.

We value diversity in culture, competence, and experience. We expect you to bring a number of qualifications to be considered for this role.

Mandatory Qualifications:

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
• 12+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 7+ years in simulation, physics engines, or robotics systems.
• Expert-level programming in C++ and strong proficiency in Python.
• Deep understanding of rigid-body dynamics, contact and collision handling, numerical integration, and constraint solvers.
• Hands-on experience with ROS or ROS2 and robot description formats such as URDF, SDF, MJCF, or USD.
• Extensive experience with robotics simulation environments (e.g. Isaac Sim / Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, Gazebo, Drake, or Webots).
• Proven track record of architecting and shipping large, performance-critical software systems.
• Demonstrated technical leadership: mentoring engineers, leading design reviews, and influencing across teams and sites.

Proficiency required in at least five of the following qualifications:

• GPU-accelerated simulation using CUDA, NVIDIA Warp, or Isaac Lab.
• Physics engine internals and tuning for contact-rich manipulation (PhysX, MuJoCo, Bullet, ODE).
• Reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and robot learning pipelines.
• Domain randomisation and sim-to-real transfer techniques.
• Manipulator robotics including motion planning, trajectory generation, and collision checking.
• Mobile robotics including SLAM, navigation, path planning, and fleet management.
• Multi-agent or fleet-scale simulation and coordination.
• Sensor simulation for cameras, depth sensors, LiDAR, and force/torque sensors.
• Digital twin development and system identification from real hardware data.
• Distributed computing and cloud orchestration (Kubernetes, Ray, Slurm).
• OpenUSD scene representation and asset pipelines.
• Publications, patents, or open-source contributions in simulation or robotics.

Personal Attributes

Candidates should demonstrate ambition, strong organizational skills, and adaptability. Technical leadership, sound judgement, and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to both engineers and stakeholders are vital. Independence, initiative, responsibility, and ownership are expected, together with a pragmatic approach, commitment to continuous learning, and genuine investment in the growth of others.

What We Offer

At Universal Robots we set a high bar and in return we provide an exciting career in a fast-growing, technology-driven company where you work alongside skilled and talented colleagues from around the world.

• Global team, local impact - Be part of a world-class R&D organisation managed from Denmark while making a tangible difference from our Bangalore office every day.
• Growth and development - A manager with continuous focus on team spirit, employee development, and skill building.
• Empowerment - Ownership of your work and the products you help create; we trust our engineers to make informed decisions that benefit the organisation.
• Health insurance and additional benefits.
• On-site collaboration with co-located product and software teams, fostering strong working relationships and rapid feedback.

We are only considering candidates local to position location and are unable to provide relocation for this position.

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.