Robotics Control Software Engineer

The role

You will help turn real lab workflows into reliable robotic systems. You will build, integrate, test and debug robotic arms, mobile robots, sensors and lab instruments, working with biologists, chemists and engineers.

What you will do

• Build, integrate and maintain robotics software for robotic arms, mobile robots, sensors, grippers and lab automation devices.
• Develop motion planning, manipulation, perception and safety logic for robots in real laboratory environments.
• Integrate laboratory instruments and devices through APIs, IoT interfaces, schedulers and custom control software.
• Build task execution frameworks with state machines, behavior trees, planners and recovery logic.
• Benchmark and integrate computer vision methods for detection, segmentation, tracking and pose estimation.
• Create and use simulation or digital twin environments for motion validation and debugging.
• Translate biological and chemical workflows into automated protocols with scientists.
• Support multi-station integration, material handling, sample tracking, logging and error recovery.
• Work hands-on with physical hardware to debug systems and improve reliability.
• Evaluate AI, autonomy, reinforcement learning or imitation learning approaches for robotic lab execution.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a related field. Recent graduates with relevant project experience are encouraged to appl
• Strong software engineering skills in one or more modern languages such as Python, C++ or C#, plus cloud-based workflows and production software systems.
• Familiarity with robotics software frameworks such as ROS2, MoveIt or comparable tools.
• Familiarity with computer vision, perception, motion planning, robotic manipulation or sensor integration.
• Comfort working with physical hardware, debugging real systems and learning by doing.
• Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail and ability to work across disciplines.
• Ability to communicate clearly with scientists, automation engineers, software engineers and robotics experts.

Nice to have

• Experience with 6-axis robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots, grippers, machine vision or automated material handling.
• Experience with OpenCV, object detection, segmentation, tracking, pose estimation, SLAM or localization.
• Experience with Foxglove, Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, Gazebo or other robotics simulation tools.
• Experience integrating lab instruments such as liquid handlers, plate hotels, incubators, readers and microscopes.
• Experience with agentic AI frameworks, Model Context Protocol, or AI systems that integrate language models with external tools.
• Familiarity with biological or chemical assays such as PCR, gel electrophoresis, microscopy, high-throughput screening or cell-based assays.
• Experience with CAD, 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC machining or rapid prototyping.
• Exposure to GPU-accelerated inference, edge deployment, foundation models, reinforcement learning, imitation learning or behavior trees.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits package, with a Summary of Benefits available to all applicants.
• Base salary, bonus and equity.
• Opportunity to help build a state-of-the-art automated biology lab from the ground up.
• Hands-on experience with robotic systems for high-throughput, data-generating biological labs.
• Exposure to robotics, lab automation, data infrastructure and AI-enabled experimental systems.
• Structured mentorship from experienced robotics, automation, software and scientific leaders.
• Work with a passionate, interdisciplinary team on drug discovery projects.
• Professional growth and development opportunities in a rapidly growing company.

Before you apply

• Xaira Therapeutics does not accept agency resumes.

About the company

Xaira is a biotech startup using AI to transform drug discovery and development, including generative AI models for protein and antibody therapeutics. It is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and London.