---
title: 'Robotics Software - Planning & Controls Engineer at Gritt Robotics Inc'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-software-planning-controls-engineer-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-cvqk99kv4zf9'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Robotics Software - Planning & Controls Engineer at Gritt Robotics Inc

- **Company:** Gritt Robotics Inc
- **Location:** South San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-05-26
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/gritt/7b70d83a-ef09-43e4-906e-754afbb8a229/application

**Skills:** C++, Python, Trajectory generation, Optimization, Sampling, Cost/reward shaping, Control, Robotics simulation infrastructure, Isaac Sim, Gazebo, GPU computing

> Join Gritt Robotics as an early team member to build and shape AI capabilities for physical infrastructure robots. You will develop state-of-the-art planning and control techniques for manipulation and navigation in dynamic outdoor environments, focusing on real-world deployments and scalable solutions.

## Job description

[Gritt](https://www.gritt.ai) is an intelligent system that combines robotics and AI to build the infrastructure that pulls society forward. Gritt deploys via simple attachments to common equipment found on construction sites and autonomously performs labor-intensive tasks, verification, and planning. Gritt systems are already building critical infrastructure in the harshest outdoor environments, starting with large-scale solar. The[founding team](https://www.gritt.ai/team) includes experts in robotics and AI from Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and MIT. Gritt is backed by Obvious Ventures, Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital, Climactic, Congruent Ventures, and other leading firms.

Role: Robotics Software - Planning & Controls Location: SF Bay Area (in-person)

## About the role

We’re looking for an experienced Planning & Controls Engineer to join our team. As an early member, you will play a pivotal role in building and shaping the AI capabilities of our robots. You will work on challenging planning/control problems around manipulation and navigation in dynamic outdoor environments. You'll need to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment where you'll wear multiple hats and have a direct impact on our product's evolution. Ideally, you have a proven track record of developing and deploying planning/control systems in production, and you're passionate about pushing the boundaries of what's possible in robotics with AI.

## What you’ll get to work on

- Develop and deploy state-of-the-art planning and control techniques for challenging manipulation and navigation problems.
- Help drive our technical approach, with particular focus on real-world deployments.
- Research and develop techniques around generating real-time, safe, efficient trajectories for multiple embodiments like robot manipulators and mobile robots.
- Develop scalable planning representations for classical and learned techniques.
- Leverage GPUs to generate and evaluate trajectories at scale.
- Enable real-time, closed-loop control leveraging classical algorithms and ML.
- Develop simulation techniques and metrics to benchmark and evaluate performance.
- Collaborate with other teams in the company.

## What we look for

- M.S/Ph.D degree in robotics, vision, computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or other engineering disciplines (or equivalent experience).
- 4+ years of hands-on experience developing planning/control solutions for robotics applications like manipulation and navigation.
- Experience working on one or more of trajectory generation, optimization, sampling, cost/reward shaping and control.
- Experience working with robotics simulation infrastructure (e.g. Isaac Sim, Gazebo).
- Proficient with C++ and comfortable with Python.
- Should be comfortable taking ownership of tasks with light supervision.
- Must have excellent problem-solving skills.
- Legally authorized to work in the United States.

## About Gritt Robotics Inc

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Gritt Robotics Inc builds physical AI systems that mount to existing construction hardware to automate labor-intensive tasks on infrastructure-scale job sites, starting with solar farm construction.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed/Grant Stage)
- **Headquarters**: New York, New York, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Puneet Puri (CEO), Vishal Dugar (Co-Founder), Anirudh Vemula (Head of AI)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Construction robotics / Renewable energy infrastructure
- Target customers: Large-scale solar farm developers and general contractors in the energy infrastructure space
- Mission or purpose: To turn chaotic jobsites into automated production systems, making construction simple, fast, and predictable

## Products & Services
- **Gritt AI**: A physical AI platform that mounts to existing construction machinery (excavators, loaders, etc.) to automate pick-and-place, assembly, transport, and oversight tasks. Handles hundreds of SKUs of construction components and materials. Designed to work with a customer's current workforce, claiming a 4X productivity boost.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of $500,000 (Grant from US Department of Energy, September 2024)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: US Department of Energy (grant provider, won Round 7 of the American-Made Solar Prize); Team has alumni from Aurora, Google, Tesla, and Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute
- **Growth Signals**: 200% headcount growth YoY (from ~3 to 13 employees); Won a multi-million dollar DOE competition (American-Made Solar Prize, chosen from 800+ startups); Named a Top U.S. Solar Innovator by the Department of Energy; Rapidly expanding from solar into other construction types

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep technical moat**: Founded by AI and robotics experts from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, Stanford, and MIT, with prior experience building autonomous trucks, self-piloting aircraft, and inspection drones
- **Hardware-agnostic approach**: Mounts to proven, existing construction machinery rather than requiring new custom hardware, lowering adoption barriers
- **Data flywheel**: Spatial and operational data from deployments continuously improve the AI across environments and tasks
- **Early government validation**: DOE award provides both funding and credibility in the energy infrastructure space

## Strategic Focus
- Starting with solar farm construction (a massive, growing market driven by renewable energy mandates)
- Rapidly expanding into other types of infrastructure construction and additional steps in the construction process
- Growing the engineering team (multiple open roles in robotics, AI, perception, and mechanical engineering)
- Scaling from pilot deployments to broader commercial adoption

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven**: Directly addresses the global labor shortage in construction while accelerating renewable energy deployment
- **World-class team**: Work alongside experts from CMU Robotics Institute, Stanford, MIT, Aurora, Google X, and Tesla
- **Early-stage impact**: With only 13 employees, new hires will have outsized influence on product direction and company culture
- **Technical depth**: Heavily engineering-focused (53% of team is technical); strong emphasis on robotics, AI, perception, and mechanical engineering
- **Location**: New York City headquarters with a presence in India; likely hybrid/office given the hardware focus
- **Traction**: Backed by the US Department of Energy with a proven product that already delivers 4X productivity gains to customers

## Sources
1. [gritt.ai](https://gritt.ai/)
2. [gritt.ai/team](https://www.gritt.ai/team)
3. [linkedin.com/company/gritt-robotics](https://www.linkedin.com/company/gritt-robotics)
4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/gritt](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/gritt)

## Other roles at Gritt Robotics Inc

- [Robotics Planning & Controls Engineer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-planning-controls-engineer-intern-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-tgc6efhwd7e0) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Hardware Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-test-engineer-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-85js6pg6fypa) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Senior Full Stack Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-full-stack-engineer-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-ywtt1wjqpk59) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Accounting & Finance Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/accounting-finance-manager-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-4yx727pfc46y) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Electronics Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/electronics-technician-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-cv47cjtzy9j6) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Assembly Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/assembly-technician-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-hrwc95qs8y1x) — South San Francisco, CA
- [ML & Cloud Infrastructure Engineer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/ml-cloud-infrastructure-engineer-intern-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-pfv409fncn52) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Robot Learning Engineer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/robot-learning-engineer-intern-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-18rw18abwffy) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Robotics Perception Engineer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-perception-engineer-intern-gritt-robotics-inc-south-san-francisco-4wdjdmg5cgk0) — South San Francisco, CA
- [Robotics Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-software-engineer-gritt-robotics-inc-india-aadkka7008t0) — India