Applied Robotics and Perception Engineer

SWARM Biotactics
San Diego, US
On-site

Why this role

Pace
Fast Paced
Collaboration
High
Autonomy
High
Decision Impact
Team
Role Level
Team Lead

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • successful integration of sensing and mechatronic components
  • robust autonomy capabilities
Typical background
5+ years of professional experience in robotics systems

Transferable backgrounds

  • Coming from robotics engineer
  • Coming from mechatronics engineer

Skills & requirements

Required

RoboticsMechatronicsEmbedded SystemsAISensorsPerception

Preferred

Computer VisionField Testing

Stack & domain

RoboticsComputer ScienceElectrical EngineeringMechatronicsComputer VisionPerceptionCommunicationProblem-solvingAISensors

About the role

Original posting from SWARM Biotactics

You will be based out of our San Diego, CA offices located in Torrey Pines.

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At SWARM Biotactics, we’re creating biorobots — living, intelligent systems based on insects. Each insect carries a custom-designed backpack that enables wireless control, sensing, and secure communication.

Biorobot swarms combine the agility of biology with AI, sensors, and swarm coordination — unlocking capabilities where conventional machines fail.

We are the only company in the world doing this — and we’re pushing the edge of what’s possible in every domain: from biology to embedded hardware to swarm intelligence.

Robust autonomy depends on tight integration across sensing, mechatronics, robotics software, and learning-based components.

We are looking for a senior, hands‑on engineer with substantial professional experience who can take ownership of prototyping end‑to‑end capabilities across these layers — from sensor selection to a perception PoC.

🚀 Join us at the frontier — and build the core autonomy capabilities for the first generation of living machines.

💡 What you’ll do

  • Own end-to-end integration of sensing and mechatronic components in real-world systems
  • Evaluate and integrate sensors and perception inputs, ensuring reliable data quality and robust pipelines
  • Work across mechatronics, embedded‑adjacent bring‑up, and robotics software integration as needed
  • Integrate and extend core robotics stacks (e.g., perception interfaces, estimation hooks, autonomy modules) for unconventional platforms
  • Prototype learning‑based components where they create leverage, with a focus on robustness and measurable performance
  • Design and run practical experiments to validate systems in realistic conditions
  • Collaborate closely with robotics, AI, autonomy, software, and biology teams

🧠 What we’re looking for

  • Excellent Master’s degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a closely related field
  • 5+ years of full-time, professional experience building and integrating robotics systems (student roles, internships, or purely academic projects are not sufficient)
  • Demonstrated ability to operate across disciplines: sensing, mechatronics, robotics software integration, and applied AI
  • Comfortable with hardware‑near development and rapid prototyping
  • Software engineering skills and a track record of ownership for complex components
  • Ability to move between abstraction levels: system design, implementation, debugging, and validation
  • Practical mindset: you work well with imperfect data and improve systems through iteration and measurement

➕ Nice to have

  • Computer vision and/or perception experience
  • Field testing, simulation-to-real workflows, or work on constrained/unconventional platforms
  • We’re well‑funded and expanding fast in a space no one else is in.
  • You’ll join a world‑class team working on the frontier of science and engineering.
  • Your work will directly shape the foundation of biorobotic systems that redefine the interface between life and technology.

⚡ Join the Swarm

If you want to build foundational systems for technology that has never existed before, we’d love to hear from you.

Source: SWARM Biotactics careers

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