Robotics Software Engineer, Manipulation

Job Title: Robotics Software Engineer, Manipulation

Department: Software Engineering

Employment Type: Full-Time

FLSA Status: Exempt

Location: Houston, TX

Travel: 10%

Who We Are

Persona is building humanoid robots for the most demanding environments in heavy industry — shipyards, steel mills, fabrication facilities, and offshore platforms — performing welding, grinding, maintenance, inspection, and material-handling work that is dangerous, physically demanding, and increasingly difficult to staff.

We are backed by leading strategic and financial investors and engaged with global industrial leaders across Korea, Japan, the United States, and Singapore. Korea is the center of gravity for our early commercial strategy, anchored by relationships with the world’s leading shipbuilders and steelmakers. Our work spans both the robot platform itself and the systems, partners, and playbooks required to deploy it at scale.

Why Join Persona?

• We offer competitive compensation, a performance-based bonus, 100% employer covered medical benefits for most healthcare plans, early-stage equity, competitive PTO, and company-wide paid winter break between December 24th and January 2nd.

• You’ll shape technology that’s redefining the possibilities of robotics and human interaction.

• Work alongside passionate teammates who value creativity, and continuous learning.

About the Role

As an inaugural engineer at Persona, you will have an incredible opportunity to shape the design of Persona’s humanoid robots, while also helping set the culture of the company. If you’re passionate about cutting-edge technology and want to be part of a world-class team, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re looking for exceptional people who dream big, thrive on challenges, and love seeing their designs come to life. We are primarily interested in candidates who have shipped products in the fields of autonomy, robotics, consumer products, medical devices, automotive, or aerospace. We also value advanced degrees and deep expertise.

What You Will Be Doing

• Design and implement advanced, dexterous manipulation algorithms for humanoid robots with high DOF and multi-fingered hands.

• Develop and optimize the manipulation pipeline, encompassing perception, grasping, trajectory optimization, motion planning, and control. Tackle complex tasks such as precise grasping, dual-arm manipulation, and in-hand object manipulation.

• Implement robust control strategies for precise and dexterous manipulation, including force/motion control and visual/tactile servoing.

• Integrate the manipulation pipeline with the humanoid robot’s whole-body controller and contribute to loco-manipulation development.

• Develop digital twins of the manipulation scenes for algorithm development. Utilize simulators such as MuJoCo and Isaac Sim.

• Conduct rigorous testing in both simulated and real-world environments.

• Work closely with the machine learning team to help train and deploy models for advanced manipulation tasks.

• Stay informed about the latest research and advancements in manipulation, leveraging both traditional methods and deep learning-based approaches.

What We Are Looking For:

• BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field.

• 7+ years of experience (5+ with advanced degree) in robotics with a strong emphasis on control and manipulation of robotics/humanoid arms.

• Strong background in motion planning, control theory, and optimization.

• Demonstrated expertise in implementing advanced manipulation algorithms for tasks such as pick-and-place, bin picking, door opening, etc.

• Proficiency in C++, Python, and relevant robotics libraries (e.g., MoveIt!, Drake, OpenRAVE).

• Experience with trajectory optimization libraries (e.g., IPOPT, SNOPT, qpOASES).

• Proficiency with modern deep learning techniques for manipulation.

• Experience with computer vision algorithms, sensors, point clouds, segmentation, and object detection.

• Familiarity with ROS, LCM, or other middleware for robotic systems.

Bonus Skills:

• Experience in developing algorithms for contact modeling and force/torque estimation with a focus on tactile sensing and feedback for dexterous tasks.

• Experience with machine learning for dexterous manipulation, including learning-based grasp strategies, behavior cloning, and reinforcement learning.

• Publications in top-tier robotics conferences focusing on dexterous manipulation.

• Experience in a humanoid robot startup environment.

Persona is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.