Senior Robotics Software Engineer

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Department: Engineering

Build the Path Forward

At Path Robotics, we’re building the future of embodied intelligence. Our AI-driven systems enable robots to adapt, learn, and perform in the real world closing the skilled labor gap and transforming industries. We go beyond traditional methods, combining perception, reasoning, and control to deliver field-ready AI that is risk-aware, reliable, and continuously improving through real-world use.

Big, hard problems are our everyday work, and our team of intelligent, humble, and driven people make the impossible possible together.

We're seeking a Senior Robotics Software Engineer who thrives on hard systems problems. Welding is where we started — but the mission is broader: robots that sense, plan, and act to take on skilled manual work. You'll write modern C++ across the full robotics stack — perception and scanning, motion and task planning, real-time execution, and closed-loop control and see your code run on live robotic cells doing real work. You'll also help us advance our planning and control by combining classical techniques with modern learning-based methods, making our robots faster, smarter, and more capable. If you're ready to take on the hardest problems with the best team on the planet, bring your expertise and enthusiasm.

What You’ll Do

• Build motion and trajectory planning for a variety of task goals from patterned and adaptive, sensor-driven motions to resource-aware sequencing that coordinates multiple robots working the same part.
• Develop kinematics, reachability, and motion planning — inverse kinematics and trajectory planning for robotic manipulators — and validate plans so motion is collision-free and executable.
• Build the real-time control and feedback loops that keep the robot on target as it works — trajectory correction, feature tracking, and camera-based visual servoing.
• Extend our robots beyond fixed workcells to mobile platforms — localization, mapping, and navigation so a moving robot can find its work and hold position while it acts.
• Own the driver layer that connects to robot hardware — streaming motion commands to the robot controller in real time and abstracting sensors, scanners, and cameras behind clean, reliable interfaces.
• Advance the stack with learning-based methods and simulation — reinforcement learning, learned planners, and sim-to-real training, alongside classical approaches.

Who You Are

• A Bachelor's in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or Mathematics — or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years building robotics software in modern C++ (Python a strong plus).
• Hands-on experience with real-time robotics, motion control, or controls software — you've built software that drives physical hardware. 
• Comfortable with multithreading, concurrency, and debugging systems-level behavior.
• Fluent developing and operating software on Linux, with Git.
• Familiar with solid engineering practice — some mix of TDD, unit testing, and CI/CD.
• Bonus points for experience with learning-based methods or robot simulation (RL, imitation learning, sim-to-real), SLAM and navigation, or ROS.

Why You’ll Love Working Here

• Daily free lunch to keep you fueled and connected with the team
• Flexible PTO so you can take the time you need, when you need it
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 6 weeks fully paid parental leave, plus an additional 6–8 weeks for birthing parents (12–14 weeks total)
• 401(k) retirement plan through Empower
• Generous employee referral bonuses—help us grow our team!

Who We Are