Senior Controls Engineer

About The Role You will architect and own the real-time control systems that govern our process: sensing, state estimation, closed-loop control, and motion. You will also help develop our physical AI process control, which is in development. You will work directly with the founding team, set technical direction for the controls discipline, and mentor engineers as the team grows.

You might be a great fit if you...

• You design control systems from first principles. Much of this problem has no existing playbook.
• You take end-to-end ownership, from control architecture through bring-up, tuning, and validation on real hardware.
• You work well under real constraints: tight budgets, hard deadlines, and novel physics at once.
• You communicate clearly across disciplines and raise the standard of the people around you.

Key responsibilities

• Define and own the real-time control architecture for our platform, from requirements through validation.
• Design and implement closed-loop control: sensing, state estimation, and actuation across the process.
• Develop and tune motion and actuation control, including high-bandwidth and multi-input systems.
• Contribute to physical AI process control (in development), connecting model-based and learning-based control to real-time execution.
• Define and execute verification and validation for control systems, including hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, software, and process engineering for clean system-level integration.
• Establish and own controls documentation: control specifications, tuning records, and test reports.
• Contribute to IP development and support patent preparation with the founding team.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers and interns as the team scales.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Controls, Electrical, Mechanical, Robotics Engineering, or a related field; Master's or PhD a plus.
• 5+ years developing real-time control systems for physical hardware, with demonstrated progression of technical responsibility.
• Strong foundation in feedback control theory and closed-loop system design.
• Real-time control implementation experience (C/C++, RTOS, or equivalent).
• Experience with sensor integration, state estimation, and signal processing.
• Demonstrated ability to bring control systems up on real hardware and validate them.
• Prior experience in a hardware startup, industrial equipment, or advanced manufacturing context.

Preferred Qualifications

• Model-based control and simulation (MATLAB/Simulink or equivalent).
• High-bandwidth, high-speed, or precision motion control.
• Machine learning or data-driven methods applied to physical control.
• FPGA or embedded real-time platforms.
• Experience managing or mentoring other engineers.

What we offer

• Y Combinator and NSF-backed startup.
• Stock options or equity.
• Direct collaboration with the founding team on a process with no direct commercial equivalent.
• A lean, on-site environment where your technical judgment shapes product direction.
• The opportunity to file patents and contribute to a growing IP portfolio.
• Flexible working arrangements and a culture that respects your time and autonomy.

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