Head of Robotics System Engineering, Humanoid Team
Tokyo
Humanoid – Product Development - Systems & Applications /
Full-time /Part-time /Contract (English) /
Hybrid
Position Summary
As the Head of Robotics System Engineering, Humanoid Team, you will own both the strategic leadership and hands‑on engineering of the full‑stack software platform that powers our general‑purpose humanoid robots - initially focused on a dual‑arm mobile manipulator and expanding to humanoids.
You will translate ambitious product goals into a scalable, safety‑certified architecture that spans everything from low‑level motor control loops to cloud‑connected autonomy services. You will scale the systems‑engineering organization from advanced prototype through volume production, combining team‑building, budget oversight, supplier strategy, and product‑lifecycle management with deep individual technical contributions.
Key Responsibilities
- Leadership & Management
- System Architecture & Design
- Project & Stakeholder Management
Robotics System Product Management
○ Define, document, and deliver end‑to‑end system requirements (functional, safety, performance, cybersecurity) that balance customer value, business viability, and technical feasibility. Shepherd those requirements through design, verification, validation, and release so they become robust, shipping products.
○ Partner tightly with Hardware, Controls, Teleoperation, AI, Cloud Infrastructure, Production, and Service teams to align every development stage from concept to field deployment.
Roadmap Planning & Execution
○ Build and maintain a cross‑functional roadmap that covers embedded firmware, real‑time middleware, high‑level autonomy, and cloud integration.
○ Secure head‑count, allocate resources, control budgets, and remove roadblocks until the system is in customers’ sites - on schedule and within quality and cost targets.
○ Low‑Layer Control - Own architecture for motor‑drive firmware (e.g., BLDC FOC, PID gain tuning), high‑rate sensor I/O, and deterministic CAN‑FD / RS‑485 / RS‑422 / I2C etc communications between custom PCBs and the Jetson main computer.
○ Mid‑Layer Control - Design and implement ROS 2 control stacks (ros2_control), safety observers, and mission state machines that seamlessly switch between Teleoperation, Autonomous, and Vision‑Language‑Action (VLA) modes. Provide ultra‑low‑latency video and command streaming for teleop and VLA.
○ High‑Layer Control - Integrate MoveIt 2 motion planning, whole‑body controllers, Localisation, teleoperation UIs, and cloud orchestration services. Ensure tight coupling with ML inference pipelines and fleet‑management back‑ends.
○ System Integration & Validation - Drive hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) and software‑in‑the‑loop (SIL) testbeds, field acceptance testing to guarantee reliability, safety, and performance at scale.
○ Translate stakeholder needs (customers, business, hardware, production, service) into clear system‑level requirements and acceptance criteria.
○ Track critical path, manage risk, and communicate status to executives and cross‑functional partners.
Qualifications
- Professional Experience
- Technical Skills
- Soft Skills & Culture Fit
○ Experience of leading multi‑disciplinary robotics software or systems‑engineering teams (or equivalent tech‑lead experience with clear people‑management potential).
○ Demonstrated P&L or budget responsibility for production‑grade robotic system programs.
○ Proven track record of shipping complex robotics software (beyond PoC) that operates reliably in real‑world customer environments.
○ Expert in ROS 2 ecosystem (ros2_control, rclcpp, DDS, MoveIt 2).
○ Deep understanding of embedded control (BLDC FOC, PID), real‑time Linux, and deterministic field‑bus protocols (CAN‑FD, RS‑485 and common embedded protocols for sensors).
○ Strong background in distributed systems, networking (gRPC, WebRTC, RTSP)
○ Proficiency in C++ and Python
○ Familiarity with functional‑safety design patterns, formal verification, and cybersecurity hardening.
○ Ownership mentality - takes responsibility for outcomes and proactively solves problems.
○ User‑centric mindset - balances technical elegance with customer value and operational practicality.
○ Comfortable in a high‑performance, high‑accountability culture (strong upside for results; demotion for under‑performance).
○ Excellent communication skills in English; Japanese proficiency is a plus.
[IMPORTANT] Application & Evaluation
To help us evaluate your candidacy effectively, please provide detailed evidence of past robotics system designs that demonstrate your ability to deliver production‑quality, safety‑critical software for humanoid or mobile manipulation platforms. Submitting generic or unrelated work (e.g., “I have extensive cloud experience - trust me”) will not suffice.
・Portfolio or Video Demonstrations - Include links to repositories, architecture diagrams, or demo videos showcasing your work.
・Relevant Explanations - Describe project scope, your specific contributions, key technical challenges (e.g., real‑time control, teleop integration), and how your solutions met cost, reliability, and scalability targets.
Applications consisting solely of a standard resume without addressing these points will not proceed in our selection process. We look forward to reviewing concrete evidence of your expertise in designing and leading full‑stack robotics systems for humanoid robots.
