Principal Motion Planning Engineer at Pickle Robot Company (Charlestown, MA)Principal Motion Planning Engineer

At Pickle Robot, we're on a mission to automate global supply chains with Physical AI. Our robots work alongside warehouse teams to unload trucks and containers — one of the toughest, most understaffed jobs in logistics — making the work safer, faster, and more efficient for the people doing it.  Loading trucks comes next, followed by the Dill Autonomy Engine: generalized autonomy that will eventually orchestrate robots across entire logistics processes. We're looking for a dynamic, driven Principal Motion Planning Engineer to help revolutionize the future of warehouse automation. As the most senior individual contributor on the motion planning team, you'll own the hardest technical problems behind how Pickle's robots plan, move, and recover in the real world, multiplying the team's impact through deep technical leadership rather than direct people management.

• Own the technical vision, architecture, interfaces, and system documentation for Pickle's motion planning and controls stack — manipulation, navigation, and safety-critical control of the unload robot — so the team can move faster and scale
• Take on the hardest algorithmic problems in planning and control — sample-based planning (e.g., RRT), path and trajectory optimization, numerical/nonlinear optimization, and contact-aware control — and turn research prototypes into production systems
• Set engineering standards and technical strategy across the robotics organization, driving high-stakes technical decisions that unblock major customers and multi-year roadmaps
• Act as a force multiplier through deep technical mentorship — raising the bar for the whole team, reviewing designs, and guiding engineers on the toughest problems without direct people management
• Analyze field failure cases and partner across engineering, test, and on-site deployment teams to design robust autonomous recovery that measurably improves reliability
• Establish regression tests, benchmarks, and success metrics that keep regressions away from customers and focus the team on the highest-impact work.
• Write production-grade Python and C++ for real-time, safety-critical robotics — personally shipping the highest-leverage and highest-risk components

• 8+ years building robotics software, with a sustained record of designing and shipping complex systems as a senior individual contributor; deep graduate robotics/controls research experience counts toward this
• Expert-level mastery of motion planning and control for real-world robots — manipulation, navigation, or locomotion — including sample-based planning (e.g., RRT), path and trajectory optimization, numerical/nonlinear optimization, and optimal/contact-aware control, in safety-critical, real-time production systems; expert-level Python and C++
• Exceptional technical communication; able to set org-wide technical strategy, write clear architecture and design docs, and influence engineering, product, and executive stakeholders without formal authority. Professional fluency in English
• No specific degree required — a strong foundation in robotics, controls, computer science, mechanical engineering, or a related quantitative field is expected
• Proficiency with ROS/ROS2, Git, Linux, and numerical optimization libraries; experience architecting testing/CI and benchmarking for robotics
• Deep technical ownership, sound judgment on high-stakes tradeoffs, a force-multiplier mindset, strong failure-analysis instincts, and a collaborative, low-ego approach
• Hybrid — Boston, MA area, with regular on-site work and occasional travel to customer deployment sites
• Full-time, with occasional schedule flexibility to support on-site deployments, demos, and testing