Senior Robotics Software Engineer

Whelix builds intelligent robots that automate the cell culture process for biotech and pharmaceutical research. We are seeking a Senior Robotics Software Engineer to own the software that runs on our robotic platforms and lead the move to a single, production-ready software platform. This is a full-time, senior individual-contributor role in Boston, MA (on-site), reporting to the CTO, with travel to customer labs.

Role Overview

You will own the software that runs our robots, from motor and device drivers over CAN and EtherCAT to the ROS 2 system and the on-robot services that connect to the cloud. You will work with a robotics software engineer, a web-platform engineer, our mechanical and electrical engineers, and the scientists who use the machine.

What You Will Work On

• Build one ROS 2 platform in C++ and Python for the gantry, flask handling, gripper, pipette and imaging subsystems, where new hardware generations are a configuration and driver plugin, not a fork
• Make the robot reliable: automatic recovery from device, bus and camera faults, with safety interlocks and motion boundary checks enforced on the machine
• Own deployment: the robot container image, systemd services and the hardware-in-the-loop CI pipeline that ships to our fleet
• Bring vision-based verification into production so the robot confirms critical steps on its own
• Install and commission robots at customer labs (roughly one week per month at peak) and turn field failures into tests

Qualifications

• 5+ years building software that controls physical machines, at least 2 on systems that shipped to customers
• Strong modern C++ and Python on Linux, with hands-on ROS 2
• Motor control over CAN or EtherCAT: drive configuration, homing, limits and fault recovery
• Docker, systemd and CI that deploys to real hardware, in production
• A safety mindset: you know why interlocks live on the machine

Nice-to-Haves

• EtherCAT specifically (SOEM or IgH, CiA 402 drives)
• Computer vision in production on embedded GPUs
• Lab automation, liquid handling or wet-lab experience

Perks & Growth Opportunities

• Ownership of the robot software end to end, from motor control to the customer-facing system
• $200K+ total compensation (base salary plus early-stage equity)
• Health benefits
• Build alongside the founders, with access to Boston's robotics and deep-tech community through MassRobotics and The Engine