Genesis AI - Staff Software Engineer, Controls at Deploy Talent (San Carlos, CA)

Deploy Talent· San Carlos, CA·6d ago

Role details

Work type

Onsite

Employment

Full-Time

Job description

Staff Software Engineer, Controls

Company

Genesis is a global physical AI lab and full-stack robotics company. We build generalist robots to unlock unlimited physical labor, allowing humans to focus on creativity, curiosity, and what they love. We recently raised a $105M Seed round backed by Khosla Ventures and Eclipse, and we’re looking to expand our software and hardware teams rapidly.

What You’ll Do

Design, implement, and optimize the embedded control stack for general-purpose robots
Design motion planning and trajectory optimization algorithms for dynamic locomotion and manipulation
Build real-time state estimation pipelines for pose, contact, and force sensing, fusing heterogeneous sensor data under noise and uncertainty
Formulate and solve optimal control problems (nonlinear MPC, convex optimization, trajectory optimization) for high-performance and stable behavior
Build modular and robust software frameworks enabling rapid iteration between simulation and hardware
Lead debugging, tuning, and validation of controllers directly on physical robots

What You’ll Bring

Passion for your craft and demonstrated excellence in control systems engineering
Extensive experience in designing, implementing, and deploying advanced control algorithms on real robotic system products (8+ years)
Deep expertise in dynamics, kinematics, optimal control, and state estimation
Strong command of hardware interfaces, sensors (IMUs, F/T sensors), and actuation technologies (motors, gearboxes, drivers)
Production-level mastery of C++ with a track record of building reliable, safety-critical software
Proven ability to bridge across hardware, software, and algorithms to deliver robust end-to-end systems
An open mind about the power of deep learning, reinforcement learning, and vision-language-action models as critical for general-purpose robotics
Bonus: Experience shipping humanoid robots or whole-body control systems
Bonus: Impactful published work in control theory, state estimation, or mathematical optimization
Bonus: Familiarity with parallel computation on GPUs to accelerate optimization

Why work at Deploy Talent

Culture highlights: The team is described as “small” and “senior,” with every team member having been an early hire somewhere. The firm emphasizes that recruiters are embedded with founders by background, not by job description. The culture appears to be high-autonomy, high-trust, and founder-centric.
Remote/hybrid/office policy: The open position (Commercial Litigation Attorney) is listed as “Hybrid,” suggesting a flexible work model. The firm has physical offices in New York, San Francisco, Newport Beach, and London.
Notable perks or engineering culture: Deploy Talent’s own team is built from people who have worked at companies like Anthropic, Tenstorrent, Waymo, and Applied Intuition. The firm’s recruiting team is heavy on engineering and technical hiring (roles include Full-Stack & Backend Engineering, Technical Recruiting). The firm’s approach is designed to appeal to recruiters who want to work deeply with startup founders rather than operate as transactional headhunters.

About Deploy Talent

Company Overview

One-liner: Deploy Talent is a boutique executive search and technical recruiting firm that embeds with early-stage AI and deep tech companies to hire the people no one else can reach.
Entity Type: Private (Bootstrapped)
Headquarters: Newport Beach, California, United States (with offices in New York, San Francisco, and London)
Founded: 2023 (originally launched as PLVCK, rebranded to Deploy in April 2025)
Founders: Estephania (Steph) Stopani (CEO, Co-Founder) and Eric McLintock (COO, Co-Founder)

Core Business

Primary industry/industries: Executive Search Services, Technical Recruiting, Talent Acquisition
Target customers: Pre-seed to Series B+ technology companies, particularly in AI, deep tech, and robotics; also works with venture capital firms who fund searches for their portfolio companies.
Mission or purpose statement: “The recruiters founders actually call.” Deploy Talent positions itself as talent infrastructure for early-stage AI and deep tech, operating on a model where recruiters have personally hired at the level they recruit for.

Products & Services

The Container Model: A fixed monthly retainer that secures a defined block of recruiting capacity (typically 1–3 active roles at a time). Includes dedicated lead recruiter + sourcing support, weekly syncs with hiring managers, and the ability to flex roles within the engagement. On top of the retainer, a placement fee is paid per successful hire. Engagements are offered in 3, 6, or 12-month durations.
Embedded Recruiting: Recruiters attend client standups, meet hiring managers weekly, see the roadmap, and adjust scope as priorities change without renegotiating fees.
Venture Fund Partnerships: Deploy Talent works with lead investors who fund the Container retainer as part of their post-investment platform support, or with portfolio companies directly.

Market Standing

Valuation/Market Cap: Not publicly available (privately held, bootstrapped).
Key Metric: Total headcount of 13 employees; LinkedIn followers of 1,230 (monthly growth of +5.6%).
Notable Investors/Partners: The firm is bootstrapped. Client/partner names are not fully disclosed, but the firm has placed talent at companies including Ocean Advisor, Genesis AI (a global physical AI lab), and Rovi Health.
Growth Signals: Rebranded from PLVCK to Deploy in April 2025; operates four offices (Newport Beach HQ, New York, San Francisco, London); actively hiring with 1 open job posting as of the latest data; talent sources include Anthropic, Tenstorrent, Waymo, Applied Intuition, and Aquabyte.

Competitive Advantages

Founder-led, boutique model: Both co-founders are hands-on recruiters who have personally hired at the level they recruit for. The team is intentionally small (13 people) and senior (38% senior-level staff).
The Container model: A retainer + placement fee structure that aligns incentives — the firm is paid for capacity and outcomes, not just activity. This is distinct from contingency or pure retained search.
Embedded approach: Recruiters attend client standups and see the roadmap, allowing them to find candidates who fit not just a job description but the evolving needs of a startup.
Deep tech specialization: Focused exclusively on early-stage AI, deep tech, and robotics companies, giving them a narrow but deep network in a high-demand market.
Alumni network: Alumni have gone to Nominal, Aurora, and Hotplate, indicating a strong track record of placing talent into high-growth companies.

Strategic Focus

Current priorities: Scaling the Container model with more early-stage AI and deep tech clients; expanding their footprint in the US and UK (London office); building out their own team by hiring recruiters who can operate with the same embedded, senior-level approach.
Direction for growth: Deploy Talent is actively hiring recruiters (as announced in September 2025) to keep up with demand from “some of the fastest growing, game-changing AI companies.” The firm is also deepening its partnerships with venture capital firms to fund placements for portfolio companies.

Sources

Job description

What You’ll Do

What You’ll Bring

Why work at Deploy Talent

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