---
title: 'Robotics Simulation Engineer at Persona AI Inc'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-simulation-engineer-persona-ai-inc-pensacola-fl-or-houston-5878srb9avyz'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-13'
---

# Robotics Simulation Engineer at Persona AI Inc

- **Company:** Persona AI Inc
- **Location:** Pensacola FL OR Houston, TX
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-04-07
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/persona.ai/18e0d683-1666-4f4d-bef8-a62c175de17d/application

**Skills:** NVIDIA Isaac Sim, NVIDIA Omniverse, OpenUSD, Python, PhysX, MuJoCo, Bullet, Drake, Robot Kinematics, Robot Dynamics, CI/CD Pipelines, Docker, DevOps, 3D Simulation Assets, NVIDIA Isaac Lab, NVIDIA Cosmos, ROS, ROS 2, Gazebo, Unreal Engine

> The Robotics Simulation Engineer will own and expand the NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Omniverse simulation infrastructure. Responsibilities include building digital twin environments, managing sim assets, creating physics-accurate simulations, and designing CI/CD pipelines to validate robot behaviors before hardware integra...

## Job description

We're looking for a Simulation Engineer to own and expand our NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Omniverse simulation infrastructure. You'll build the digital twin environments, sim assets, and CI/CD pipelines that our autonomy team relies on daily. You will help achieve the vision in which every robot behavior we develop is prototyped, tested, and validated in simulation before it runs on hardware.

As a simulation engineer at Persona, you will have an incredible opportunity to shape the simulation infrastructure that underpins our entire autonomy stack. You will report to the Behavior Coordination Lead and work closely with machine learning, locomotion, manipulation, perception, and devops teams.

Your Role:

- Build, maintain, and extend simulation environments in NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Omniverse for humanoid robot development.
- Develop and manage OpenUSD sim assets: robot models, tools, workpieces, customer facility environments (shipyards, steel fabrication plants, industrial sites).
- Create and maintain physics-accurate digital twins of customer facilities (shipyards and industrial manufacturing) for behavior validation and deployment planning.
- Integrate all autonomy subsystems (locomotion, manipulation, perception, hands, navigation, welding) to run against Isaac Sim.
- Design and implement behavior-level CI/CD pipelines that automatically validate robot behaviors in simulation.
- Prototype and mock-test robot behaviors (welding, navigation, manipulation) in simulation before hardware integration.
- Develop synthetic data generation pipelines for training perception, manipulation, and navigation models.

We're Looking For:

- BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- 3+ years of professional experience in robotics simulation, digital twin development, or physics-based simulation environments.
- Strong hands-on experience with NVIDIA Isaac Sim and/or NVIDIA Omniverse.
- Working knowledge of OpenUSD (Universal Scene Description): authoring, composition, referencing, flattening, and debugging USD stage hierarchies.
- Proficiency in Python; comfortable writing simulation tooling, test harnesses, and automation scripts.
- Experience with at least one physics engine: PhysX, MuJoCo, Bullet, or Drake.
- Solid understanding of robot kinematics, dynamics, and articulated body simulation.
- Experience developing or maintaining CI/CD pipelines for simulation or robotics software.
- Familiarity with containerization (Docker) and DevOps practices for simulation infrastructure.
- Ability to create and manage 3D simulation assets (meshes, materials, collision geometry, articulation definitions).

Preferred or Bonus Qualifications:

- Experience with NVIDIA Isaac Lab for reinforcement learning environment setup and training.
- Familiarity with NVIDIA Cosmos for synthetic data generation and scene variability.
- Experience with ROS/ROS 2 and Gazebo simulation.
- Experience with Unreal Engine or other real-time rendering engines for robotics visualization.
- Background in manipulation simulation: contact modeling, grasp planning, dexterous multi-fingered hand interaction, and force/torque estimation.
- Experience with motion capture data pipelines and motion retargeting to robot models.
- Exposure to behavior trees, task planning, or autonomy stack architecture.
- Knowledge of Omniverse extensions development and Kit SDK.

## About Persona AI Inc

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Persona AI develops industrial humanoid robots designed for skilled physical work in complex environments like shipyards, construction sites, and energy infrastructure.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Houston, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Nicolaus Radford (CEO), Jide Akinyode (COO), Dr. Jerry Pratt (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Industrial Robotics, Humanoid Robotics, AI, Manufacturing, Construction, Energy, Shipbuilding
- **Target customers**: B2B / Enterprise — heavy industrial sectors including shipbuilding, construction, energy (oil & gas, utilities), manufacturing, and defense.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: To build industrial humanoid robots that perform skilled physical work in complex environments, addressing labor shortages, improving safety, and increasing operational efficiency across heavy industry. The company focuses on the "4D jobs" — dull, dirty, dangerous, and declining — so that humans don't have to perform them.

## Products & Services
- **Persona AI Humanoid Platform**: A modular industrial humanoid robot designed for real-world applications in shipyards, construction sites, energy infrastructure, and manufacturing facilities. The system is engineered for skilled physical work in complex environments and supports tasks such as welding, grinding, inspection, material handling, fabrication, and equipment maintenance. The modular design allows integration with standard industrial tools and adaptation to different workflows.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding — $30M (oversubscribed Pre-Seed round, closed June 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Tides Ventures, Unity Growth Fund, POSCO DX, GOOSE Capital, SGH Capital, Embedded Ventures, and 19 other investors. Partners include Under Armour (performance materials), ABS (shipyard safety), and the State of Louisiana (pilot program at SSE Steel Fabrication).
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of ~65 employees (as of mid-2025) with a monthly growth rate of +3.9%. Active job postings have grown +13.3% monthly and +54.5% quarterly. The company has announced key hires including Brian Davis (Head of Global Manufacturing) and Michael Perry (Head of Commercial Strategy). It has secured a pilot program with the State of Louisiana and a partnership with ABS for shipyard applications.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep domain expertise**: The leadership team has contributed to 15+ humanoid projects and published impactful robotics research, giving them a strong technical foundation.
- **Modular, task-focused design**: The robot platform is built to integrate with standard industrial tools and adapt to different workflows, making it practical for real-world deployment rather than being a general-purpose humanoid.
- **Early mover in a critical niche**: Persona AI is specifically targeting the skilled industrial labor gap in sectors like shipbuilding, construction, and energy, which face acute labor shortages and high demand for automation.
- **Strong government and industry partnerships**: Early pilot programs with the State of Louisiana and a partnership with ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) demonstrate real-world traction and validation.

## Strategic Focus
- **Productization and deployment**: Moving from R&D to deploying humanoid robots in real industrial environments, with a focus on welding, fabrication, and maintenance tasks.
- **Scaling the team**: Aggressively hiring across robotics engineering, machine learning, mechanical design, and commercial strategy roles to build out the organization.
- **Building commercial partnerships**: Establishing relationships with major industrial players (e.g., POSCO, HD Hyundai affiliates, Under Armour) and government entities to secure pilot programs and long-term contracts.
- **Expanding use cases**: Targeting shipbuilding, construction, energy infrastructure, and defense as primary verticals.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven work**: The company is tackling a tangible, high-impact problem — the skilled labor shortage in heavy industry — by building robots that perform dangerous, dirty, and physically demanding tasks.
- **Strong technical team**: The leadership includes veterans from NASA, the robotics research community, and major defense/industrial companies. The CTO, Dr. Jerry Pratt, is a well-known figure in humanoid robotics.
- **Early-stage growth**: As a 2024 startup with $30M in funding and a headcount of ~65, new hires can have significant impact on the product and company direction.
- **Diverse, hands-on roles**: Open positions range from Welding Engineer and Robotics Technician to Machine Learning Engineer and XR Rendering Engineer, offering a variety of technical challenges.
- **Houston-based**: Headquarters in Houston, Texas, with a growing international presence. The company appears to be on-site or hybrid given the nature of hardware development.
- **Notable perks/culture**: The company emphasizes a "build" culture, with a focus on putting "tough humanoids to work." The team includes veterans from Anduril, Nauticus Robotics, and NASA, suggesting a high-caliber, mission-driven engineering environment.

## Sources
1. [persona.ai](https://persona.ai/)
2. [LinkedIn - Persona AI](https://www.linkedin.com/company/persona-humanoids-at-work)
3. [CB Insights - Persona AI](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/persona-ai)
4. [Ashby Careers - Persona AI](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/persona.ai)
5. [Persona AI - The Team](https://persona.ai/the-team/)

## Other roles at Persona AI Inc

- [AI Engineer – Robotics Data Preprocessing](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-engineer-robotics-data-preprocessing-persona-ai-inc-pensacola-fl-or-houston-mzny1g5jneke) — Pensacola FL OR Houston, TX
- [Senior Assembly Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-assembly-technician-persona-ai-inc-houston-n7kt2xazhmpk) — Houston, TX
- [Robotics Software Internship, Manipulation](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-software-internship-manipulation-persona-ai-inc-houston-3ymz9b7b5tm8) — Houston, TX
- [Talent Acquisition Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-acquisition-coordinator-persona-ai-inc-houston-27jreg4pv57e) — Houston, TX
- [Senior Technical Recruiter – Advanced Manufacturing](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-recruiter-advanced-manufacturing-persona-ai-inc-houston-7xhsd3k6ym9r) — Houston, TX
- [Senior Technical Recruiter - Humanoid Robotics Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-recruiter-humanoid-robotics-engineering-persona-ai-inc-houston-ze8sb651qkw5) — Houston, TX
- [Controls Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/controls-systems-engineer-persona-ai-inc-houston-dwx4kw5d6sp5) — Houston, TX
- [Senior Robotics Software Engineer - Autonomy](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-robotics-software-engineer-autonomy-persona-ai-inc-houston-2qspy6cwd7jy) — Houston, TX
- [Precision Assembler](https://feeny.ai/job/precision-assembler-persona-ai-inc-houston-b7h62z0a3b93) — Houston, TX
- [Robotics Full Stack Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-full-stack-software-engineer-persona-ai-inc-pensacola-fl-or-houston-9n7bffpy4sfk) — Pensacola FL OR Houston, TX