---
title: 'Sr. Robotics Engineer, Motion Planning at Contoro Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sr-robotics-engineer-motion-planning-contoro-inc-austin-k7sk7q61jxrg'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Sr. Robotics Engineer, Motion Planning at Contoro Inc.

- **Company:** Contoro Inc.
- **Location:** Austin, TX
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-10
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/contoro/ad34a874-deb3-4bc0-959b-87650ac1a219

## Job description

JOIN CONTORO ROBOTICS – REVOLUTIONIZING WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION WITH CUTTING-EDGE ROBOTICS

At Contoro Robotics, we're on a mission to solve labor challenges through advanced robotic solutions. Headquartered in Austin, TX, our fast-growing startup is transforming the supply chain industry with our flagship warehouse automation technology. Our team is made up of top-tier experts in robotics, AI, and logistics, working together to push the boundaries of automation.

We’re looking for talented and ambitious individuals to join us on this journey—helping shape the future of robotics while growing alongside a world-class team. If you're passionate about innovation, problem-solving, and making a real-world impact, we want to hear from you!

## SENIOR ROBOTICS ENGINEER, MOTION PLANNING

Contoro Robotics is an Austin-based company building autonomous truck-unloading robots for warehouse operations. We deploy reliable, high-throughput robotic systems that handle heavy, unstructured freight in real logistics settings every day.

## THE ROLE

We are looking for a Senior Robotics Engineer to lead the next phase of motion-performance improvement for our robot arm. You will be the technical lead for motion planning and trajectory generation, owning how we turn planned motion into fast, smooth, dynamically feasible trajectories under real hardware constraints. Your focus is reducing cycle time while maintaining safety and payload stability, using strong fundamentals in kinematics, dynamics, constrained optimization, and hardware-backed performance validation. This is a senior individual-contributor role: you set technical direction for motion planning, own the hardest trajectory-optimization problems, and mentor other engineers, working closely with the autonomy team.

## RESPONSIBILITIES

Trajectory Optimization

- Own trajectory generation and time parameterization: turn planned paths into time-optimal, dynamically feasible trajectories that minimize cycle time while respecting velocity, acceleration, jerk, and torque limits of the arm and payload.
- Drive the next generation of our motion performance through advanced time parameterization, optimization-based motion (optimal control, QP/NLP), and payload-aware planning that meaningfully increases throughput.
- Ensure smooth, jerk-limited motion that maintains payload stability and hardware safety, and robustly handle near-singularity and joint-limit edge cases without stalls or unsafe motion.

Path Generation and Planning Architecture

- Own geometric path planning for a high-DOF manipulator moving boxes through cluttered, partially occluded container environments.
- Evaluate and evolve the planning architecture and toolchain (e.g., MoveIt, OMPL, CHOMP/TrajOpt), making the build, adopt, and extend decisions for the planning stack.
- Integrate perception outputs (container frame, box poses, occupancy) into the planning scene, reasoning about collision objects such as container walls, ceiling, and neighboring boxes.

Performance Validation

- Define motion-performance metrics, benchmark alternative approaches, and validate gains both in simulation and on real hardware.
- Use physics-based and kinematic simulation to develop and de-risk changes before they reach the fleet.

Technical Leadership

- Set technical direction for motion planning and drive multi-quarter improvements in cycle time and reliability.
- Mentor junior and mid-level engineers and raise the team's bar on motion-planning craft, testing, and reliability.
- Collaborate across autonomy, perception, controls, and robot software to deliver end-to-end motion that is both fast and reliable across diverse box configurations.

## QUALIFICATIONS

Experience: 5+ years of professional experience in motion planning, trajectory optimization, or manipulator control, with production or real-hardware deployment and a track record of owning motion performance end-to-end.

Education: B.S. or M.S. in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent industry experience).

Technical Skills:

- Strong grounding in classical trajectory generation and time-parameterization methods (e.g., TOTG/TOPP-RA, Ruckig, S-curve profiles), with the ability to derive, adapt, and implement them in production systems.
- Deep grasp of manipulator kinematics and dynamics - forward/inverse kinematics, collision checking, velocity/acceleration/jerk and torque constraints, and singularity and joint-limit handling for 6/7-DOF arms.
- Background in optimization-based motion (optimal control, QP/NLP-based trajectory optimization).
- Deep proficiency in C++ (modern standards), Python, and ROS 1 or ROS 2.
- Experience validating cycle-time and reliability improvements on real hardware, backed by simulation.

Soft Skills:

- Strong problem-solving and data-driven decision-making; able to own ambiguous, high-impact problems and decompose them into actionable work.
- Excellent communication - able to present complex technical concepts clearly to cross-functional teams and mentor other engineers.

## NICE TO HAVE

- Hands-on expertise with MoveIt and motion planning frameworks (OMPL, RRT/RRT-Connect/PRM, CHOMP/TrajOpt).
- Experience with industrial manipulators (e.g., KUKA) and real-time joint control.
- Experience planning for multi-object or multi-pick manipulation.
- Experience optimizing for throughput or cycle time in a production robotics or logistics setting.
- Experience with GPU-accelerated or learning-based motion planning in addition to classical methods.
- Experience with physics-based or kinematic simulation for planning validation (Isaac Sim, Gazebo, MuJoCo, Bullet).

*Recruitment Agencies: Please do not contact our employees regarding this role. We partner with a select group of approved recruiting firms and do not accept unsolicited outreach or candidate submissions.

## About Contoro Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Contoro provides an AI-powered, human-in-the-loop robotics service to autonomously unload floor-loaded trailers and shipping containers for the logistics industry.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: Austin, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Youngmok "Mok" Yun (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Robotics Engineering / Industrial Automation / Logistics
- **Target Customers**: B2B (warehouses, distribution centers, freight companies, and supply chain operators)
- **Mission**: To transform the future of work by delivering reliable, affordable, and safe robotics solutions, starting with the most physically demanding task in the supply chain – unloading non-palletized boxes from trucks and containers.

## Products & Services
- **Autonomous Container & Trailer Unloading Service**: A robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) offering where a mobile robot autonomously enters a trailer or container, uses a patented articulated gripper (DuoGrasp) and a Kuka industrial arm to unload mixed-SKU boxes (8" to 30" in dimension, up to 65 lbs), and places them onto an onboard conveyor belt. The service is charged per container unloaded, with no upfront capital expense.
- **Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) AI Platform**: A proprietary system that augments the robot's AI with remote human teleoperation for edge cases. This creates a continuous learning loop to improve AI reliability over time, targeting 99%+ success rates required for industrial use.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Total Funding**: USD 22.0 million across 4 rounds:
  - Pre-Seed (2022): USD 1.3M led by Village Global
  - Seed (June 2023): USD 7.2M led by SV Investment Corp
  - Corporate Round: Led by Coupang (amount undisclosed)
  - Series A (April 2025): USD 13.5M led by Doosan Investment
- **Key Metric**: 43 employees (as of mid-2025), with 83.3% year-over-year headcount growth
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Doosan Investment, SV Investment Corp, Coupang, Village Global
- **Growth Signals**: 83.3% YoY headcount growth; active commercial pilot program for qualified customers; presence in the US, South Korea, UAE, and India; 4 active job postings (up 300% YoY).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) Reliability**: Contoro's core moat is its ability to handle the "endless edge cases" of trailer unloading (diverse box sizes, containers, and layouts) by combining AI with remote human operators. This guarantees 99%+ reliability in real-world industrial environments, a bar that pure AI solutions struggle to meet.
- **Patented Hardware**: The "DuoGrasp" articulated gripper provides a two-sided box grasp for stability, allowing the robot to handle heavy, multi-dimensional boxes without damage.
- **No-Capex Business Model**: Charging per container unloaded (RaaS) removes the capital barrier for customers, making the service "affordable and predictable" and easy to scale up or down.
- **Rapid Deployment**: The robot's mobile base and built-in connectivity allow it to be moved from dock to dock via remote control or forklift, with "short deployment time & high reliability from day 1."

## Strategic Focus
- **Commercialization & Scaling**: The company is currently accepting qualified customers for a 12-week commercial pilot program, indicating a shift from R&D to market deployment.
- **Vertical Expansion**: While starting with trailer/container unloading, the company's platform is designed to tackle other physically demanding tasks in logistics and beyond.
- **AI Evolution**: Accelerating the AI learning loop through teleoperation data to reduce reliance on human operators over time.

## Why Work Here
- **Cutting-Edge Technology**: Work on real-world AI and robotics problems (perception, motion planning, manipulation) with industrial-grade hardware (Kuka arms).
- **High Growth Trajectory**: A Series A startup with 83% headcount growth and a clear path to commercial scale. The team is small (43 people), offering significant ownership and impact.
- **Culture & Values**: The company emphasizes **Reliability**, **Collaboration**, **Commitment**, **Independent Problem Solving**, and **Contribution**.
- **Benefits**:
  - 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance
  - 401k plan with matching
  - Flexible work hours
  - Pet-friendly office (Austin HQ)
  - Gym membership reimbursement
  - Continuous education support (book purchases, online courses, Lunch & Learns)
  - Employee recognition program with gift card rewards
  - Paid parental and marriage leave
- **Work Model**: Office-based in Austin, Texas with flexible hours. The engineering culture is hands-on, with a focus on building and deploying real hardware.
- **Global Exposure**: Offices in the US, South Korea, UAE, and India.

## Sources
1. [contoro.com](https://contoro.com/)
2. [contoro.com/about-us](https://contoro.com/about-us/)
3. [contoro.com/career](https://contoro.com/career/)
4. [linkedin.com/company/contoro-inc](https://www.linkedin.com/company/contoro-inc)
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/contoro](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/contoro)

## Other roles at Contoro Inc.

- [Robotics Software Engineer, Autonomy Integration](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-software-engineer-autonomy-integration-contoro-inc-austin-1f0ny694pbcq) — Austin, TX
- [Business Development Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-manager-contoro-inc-buena-park-st7qdm7tjwmj) — Buena Park, CA
- [Office & People Operations Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/office-people-operations-coordinator-contoro-inc-austin-pd6k8ys93tjr) — Austin, TX
- [Robotics Test & Validation Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-test-validation-intern-contoro-inc-austin-nd5td8hgn463) — Austin, TX
- [Sr. Robotics Engineer, Perception](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-robotics-engineer-perception-contoro-inc-austin-w7btpsjbn1qa) — Austin, TX
- [Data Engineer, Cloud Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/data-engineer-cloud-platform-contoro-inc-austin-1rh10zprevbv) — Austin, TX
- [Robotics Engineer, Motion Planning](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-engineer-motion-planning-contoro-inc-austin-g1xqjkwb34zj) — Austin, TX
- [Robotics Engineer, Autonomy](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-engineer-autonomy-contoro-inc-austin-07tcy2s2jy6x) — Austin, TX