--- title: 'Robotics Engineer, Staff at 9 Mothers' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-engineer-staff-9-mothers-austin-dr6x193qpb0s' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Robotics Engineer, Staff at 9 Mothers - **Company:** 9 Mothers - **Location:** Austin, TX - **Compensation:** $200k–$270k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-03-04 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/9-mothers/7d718e91-35b6-412a-9278-aaf0f9966c4d ## Job description Location: Onsite — Austin, TX Employment Type: Full‑Time Job Title: Lead Robotics Engineer Company Overview 9 Mothers Defense develops AI-enabled systems to counter unmanned aerial threats. Our first product, EDDA, is an autonomous counter-sUAS point-defense platform designed to detect, track, and neutralize Group 1 drone threats. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Position Summary 9 Mothers is seeking a Robotics Lead to own the control systems and motion engineering for our counter-sUAS platform. The Robotics Lead is responsible for the design, implementation, and tuning of the high-bandwidth control loops and state estimation that enable EDDA to track and engage small, fast-moving aerial targets with precision. This is a senior individual contributor position focused on control theory. Essential Duties - Design, implement, and tune the control stack for EDDA's motion system, including actuators and gimbaled subsystems. - Develop and maintain high-bandwidth control loops, including PID, feedforward, and model-predictive control as appropriate to the application. - Develop and maintain state estimation pipelines that fuse inertial measurement unit data, encoder feedback, and perception output into a consistent target track. - Characterize and model mechanical nonlinearities — including backlash, cogging, stiction, inertia, and structural modes — and develop compensation strategies. - Build calibration, logging, and replay tools to support field performance analysis. - Continuously improve slew rate, settling time, and pointing accuracy as the hardware platform evolves. ## Requirements - 6+ years of professional experience in production controls engineering within motion systems, robotics, aerospace, or comparable real-time domains. - Strong command of modern control theory, including state-space methods, observers, and model-predictive control. - Proficiency in Rust, C, or C++ for real-time code, and Python for analysis and tooling. - Demonstrated track record of bringing a complex physical system to production-grade performance. - U.S. citizenship and ability to pass a background check. ## Preferred Qualifications - Experience with gimbal, turret, or pointing-system design. - System identification and model-based control experience. - Hands-on experience with motor drivers, CAN bus, and RTOS targets. - Experience with ROS 2 or DDS middleware in production. - Active security clearance, or eligibility to obtain one. - Prior defense startup experience - Passion for building robots or engineering projects as a hobby ## Benefits - Meaningful Early Equity: You aren't just an employee; you are a foundational owner. Your contributions directly drive the value of your stake in the company. - Direct Roadmap Influence: Forget the bureaucracy of big defense. You will have a seat at the table, directly shaping our product and technology trajectory from day one. - Mission-Critical Work: We don't build for "what if." We build systems the Department of War actively needs to counter immediate, real-world threats. - The Builder's Playground: Work in a brand-new lab fully optimized for rapid prototyping, equipped with NVIDIA Jetsons, high-end scopes, and 3-D printers. - 100% Employer-Paid Premiums: We cover 100% of your medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums and cover 50% of healthcare premiums for your dependents. - Unlimited PTO: We value results, not clock-watching. Take the time you need to stay sharp and recharge. - Zero Red Tape: You report to the founders. You have the autonomy to make technical decisions that would take months of committee approval at a larger firm. - Austin-Based Culture: Join an onsite team in Austin, TX, where we prioritize high-bandwidth collaboration and rapid field-testing. - Relocation Assistance: We want the best talent in the room. If you aren't in Austin yet, we’ll help you get here, to make your transition to the Silicon Hills seamless. ## About the Interview 1. Initial Screening with recruiter - 30 min phone call 2. 1st Round Virtual Interview - peer engineer + either Director or CTO (1.5hr via MS Teams) 3. 2nd Round Onsite Interview - CTO + Director + VP + peer(s) (~ 6 hours in-person) **will fly out candidates that are not local 4. Reference checks & offer ## About 9 Mothers ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: 9 Mothers builds autonomous counter-drone defense systems for the U.S. military, specializing in fast, low-cost point defense against close-range FPV and swarm drone threats. - **Entity Type**: Private (backed by Y Combinator, Batch Spring 2026) - **Headquarters**: Austin, Texas, United States - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Russell Smith (CEO), Roman Khomenko (COO), Bogdan Pyzh ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Defense technology / Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) - **Target customers**: B2G (U.S. Department of Defense, prime contractors, military operators) - **Mission**: “Defense must move at the speed of the threat.” Build weapons the U.S. and its allies can afford to use at scale, delivered on software-like iteration cycles. ## Products & Services - **[Edda](https://9mothers.com)**: AI point defense turret (shipping now). Ultra-fast motion platform (<15 ms slew, <1.5 arcmin precision) with shotgun effector for engaging FPV drones at 10–100 m. Fully autonomous-capable, zero RF signature, ~23 kg form factor. - **[Vor](https://9mothers.com)**: Passive acoustic sensor (available Q1 2027). Zero-RF detection of drones using intrinsic acoustics, coarse tracking refined by onboard visual model. Feeds into the kill chain. - **[Atla](https://9mothers.com)**: Belt-fed shotgun system (available Q1 2027). Continuous-fire close-range engagement designed for sustained drone swarms where ammunition discipline is critical. - **[Gleipnir](https://9mothers.com)**: Counter-Shahed / Group 2 system (available 2027). Clean answer to one-way attack drones, cost-per-shot under $10k. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company) - **Key Metric**: $1.6 million in sales (YC profile); multiple systems delivered to the Department of Defense - **Notable Investors**: Backed by Y Combinator (Primary Partner: Garry Tan) - **Growth Signals**: Team size of 19 (as of Spring 2026), 11 open job roles across engineering, proven revenue with existing contracts, three additional products under development with pre‑demand ## Competitive Advantages - Vertically scoped: own perception, tracking, and engagement end‑to‑end – no multi‑vendor integration - Hardware built on software discipline: small batches, fast cycle time, instrumented field data, no multi‑year waterfall - Cost‑per‑shot, manufacturability, and serviceability are first‑class design constraints (weapons the U.S. can afford to fire at scale) - Operator‑first design: infantry‑mobile, low mass, low power, minimal setup time ## Strategic Focus - Scaling production and fielding Edda immediately (shipping now) - Delivering three follow‑on products (Vor, Atla, Gleipnir) in 2027 - Deepening partnerships with DoD primes and procurement teams - Aggressively hiring engineers in perception (ML, CV, audio), robotics, hardware, embedded, and test to accelerate development ## Why Work Here - **Location & Policy**: Austin, TX – fully in‑person on‑site (office, bench, range). No remote. - **Engineering culture**: “Hardware on software tempo” – range data drives next‑day iteration; engineers own a system, not a Jira ticket. Typical day: range setup, live‑fire testing, operator debrief, bench rework, next‑day spec. - **Impact**: Work is fielded quickly (months, not years) in a high‑stakes counter‑drone domain. “The work is the perk.” - **Roles open**: 11 positions including Senior/Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Computer Vision Engineer, Robotics Engineer, Electrical Engineer, R&D Test Engineer, Embedded Engineer (BSP), etc. - **Team size**: ~19 people, tight‑knit, flat structure. Recruiter contact not accepted – direct applications via jobs@9mothers.com or Ashby portal. ## Sources 1. [9mothers.com](https://9mothers.com/) 2. [9mothers.com/company](https://9mothers.com/company) 3. [9mothers.com/careers](https://9mothers.com/careers) 4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/9-mothers](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/9-mothers) 5. [ycombinator.com/companies/9-mothers-corporation](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/9-mothers-corporation) ## Other roles at 9 Mothers - [Manufacturing Engineering Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-engineering-lead-9-mothers-austin-sr9g070tb2z6) — Austin, TX - [Technical Project Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-project-manager-9-mothers-austin-v6d28jwrtgtm) — Austin, TX - [Integration Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/integration-engineer-9-mothers-austin-9c8zqy6y5s0c) — Austin, TX - [Field Applications Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/field-applications-engineer-9-mothers-austin-v24ehz59sryw) — Austin, TX - [R&D Test Engineer, Senior](https://feeny.ai/job/r-d-test-engineer-senior-9-mothers-austin-yf1bp2zhznn9) — Austin, TX - [R&D Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/r-d-test-engineer-9-mothers-austin-zwbm2wjspx3h) — Austin, TX - [Perception Engineer, Senior](https://feeny.ai/job/perception-engineer-senior-9-mothers-austin-ccgmjc215z0y) — Austin, TX - [Robotics Engineer, Senior](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-engineer-senior-9-mothers-austin-g9peh2nbkq30) — Austin, TX