---
title: 'Staff Simulation Architect - Core Simulation Platform at Apptronik'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-simulation-architect-core-simulation-platform-apptronik-austin-117z0qakax2b'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Staff Simulation Architect - Core Simulation Platform at Apptronik

- **Company:** Apptronik
- **Location:** Austin, TX
- **Posted:** 2026-09-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://boards.greenhouse.io/apptronik/jobs/6179902004?gh_jid=6179902004

## Job description

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.

We operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.

## JOB SUMMARY

At the core of every robot policy we ship is a simulation platform that has to be fast enough for RL training, accurate enough for controls validation, and stable enough to be the team's daily driver. As Staff Software Architect for Core Simulation Platform, you'll own the architecture of that platform — the distributed systems, performance engineering, and large-scale infrastructure decisions that let it run millions of parallel experiences a day. You don't need a deep robotics or simulation background to thrive here: what matters most is a track record of architecting complex, high-performance, distributed software systems. We'll pair you with senior team members who bring domain depth in physics and robotics.

## ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

- Own the architecture of the core simulation platform — high-performance distributed systems that serve as the foundation for policy training, controls validation, and CI/CD integration testing.
- Design and drive the build-out of cloud-native pipelines capable of generating millions of experience hours per day, architecting how compute-heavy workloads parallelize and scale for rapid iteration.
- Define the platform's core abstractions and APIs, ensuring the system stays extensible as new physics, sensor, and rendering capabilities are added by domain specialists.
- Set technical direction on performance, reliability, and scalability, identifying and resolving systemic bottlenecks in a large, high-throughput distributed system.
- Define the platform roadmap and review major design proposals, ensuring improvements visibly reduce iteration time for RL, controls, and perception teams.
- Partner with Controls, AI Research, and Perception leadership to translate their evolving needs into a coherent, extensible architecture as the platform grows.
- Establish architectural standards and mentor senior engineers on system design, bringing outside experience in distributed systems and software architecture into a robotics context.

## SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

- Excellent C++ and/or Python programming skills, with a strong track record of applying them to large-scale system architecture
- Deep experience architecting distributed, high-throughput, or real-time software systems — this experience can come from robotics, gaming, simulation, high-frequency trading, large-scale backend infrastructure, or similar domains
- Proven experience architecting workloads on cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Ray, Kubernetes)
- Deep familiarity with software development best practices: CI/CD, automated testing, and code quality standards
- Track record of making and defending architectural trade-offs (performance vs. flexibility, latency vs. throughput) and communicating them clearly to engineers and leadership
- Comfort ramping up quickly in a new technical domain, and partnering closely with subject-matter experts in physics, robotics, and ML to translate their needs into system design

At least one of:

- Understanding of robotics concepts: kinematics, dynamics, controls, system identification
- Experience with modern robotic simulators (Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, or equivalent)
- Understanding of Reinforcement Learning, with research or production experience

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

- Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- 7+ years of software engineering experience, including significant time in a software architecture or technical leadership role on complex, large-scale systems

## PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times
- Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
- Hearing and speech to communicate

*This is a direct hire.  Please, no outside Agency solicitations.

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

## About Apptronik

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Apptronik builds advanced humanoid robots for real-world industrial applications, starting with manufacturing and warehousing, to address labor shortages and improve human productivity.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Funding Stage: Series A)
- **Headquarters**: Austin, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2016
- **Founders**: Founded as a spinout from the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin; leadership includes CEO Jeff Cardenas and CTO Nicholas Paine

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Robot Manufacturing, Humanoid Robotics, Industrial Automation, Artificial Intelligence
- Target customers: B2B / Enterprise — manufacturing facilities, warehousing and logistics operators, supply chain organizations
- Mission or purpose statement: “It is not Man vs. Machine, but Man + Machine” — building robots that empower humans to live to their fullest potential by solving labor shortages and reducing physical strain.

## Products & Services
- **[Apollo Humanoid Robot Platform]**: A full-electric, bipedal humanoid robot designed for industrial use. Combines advanced hardware, embodied AI, and fleet-level management software. Current applications include material handling, line-side tasks, palletizing, case picking, trailer unloading, and inspection. Built as a scalable platform that can extend into healthcare, eldercare, and home environments over time. (Type: Hardware + SaaS Platform)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Annual Revenue**: ~$3.5 million (estimated)
- **Total Funding**: ~$963.8 million (includes a Seed Round of $14.6M in 2022, a Corporate Round in 2025, and an undisclosed Series A round; notable investors include Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Google)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Google, Terex, Humanoid Global
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 98.1% year-over-year to 334 employees (2026 data). Named to the **2026 CNBC Disruptor 50** list. Recognized on the **Best Places to Work** list (2024, 2025). Won the **2025 IEEE Robotics & Automation Product Innovation Award**. Named **Most Innovative** (2025). Active job postings increased 238.5% year-over-year (88 open roles). Acquired Elevate Robotics Inc.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep heritage**: Spun out of UT Austin’s Human Centered Robotics Lab; team dates back to the DARPA Robotics Challenge (2015) and includes ex-NASA collaborators.
- **Full-stack vertical integration**: Covers hardware, embodied AI, and fleet-level management software — a complete, scalable platform rather than a one-off robot.
- **Safe, human-centric design**: Built for human environments from the ground up, with a focus on reducing physical strain and complementing human workers, not replacing them.
- **Early enterprise traction**: Active partnerships with major industrial players like Mercedes-Benz and Terex, proving real-world deployment over lab demos.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling Apollo for manufacturing and warehouse deployment (current core market).
- Expanding into more complex environments: construction, healthcare, eldercare, and the home.
- Continuous hardware and software upgrades (CEO Jeff Cardenas calls humanoid robotics “the space race of our time” and has signaled major upgrades to Apollo).
- Building out fleet-level tools for multi-robot management and learning.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven**: Work on the frontier of humanoid robotics with a stated ethos of “Man + Machine” — robots that improve human quality of life.
- **High-growth environment**: Doubled headcount year-over-year with massive funding and expanding job postings; strong career growth potential.
- **Culture values**: Passion, creativity, collaboration, integrity, curiosity, and humility are explicitly stated as core values.
- **Perks & Benefits**:
  - Flexible PTO (open, unlimited)
  - 401k retirement plan
  - Comprehensive Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
  - Parental leave
  - Flexible work hours
  - Collaborative and innovative work environment
- **Remote/Hybrid Policy**: Not explicitly stated; 77% of workforce is in the United States (majority in Austin HQ). Specific roles may vary, but the company promotes a collaborative environment.
- **Talent sources**: Attracts talent from top robotics and tech companies — SpaceX, Tesla, Fox Robotics, Agility Robotics, Apple, iRobot, Neocis, and top universities (UT Austin).
- **Employee rating**: 3.9/5.0 on employer reviews (Work-Life: 3.5, Career: 3.7).

## Sources
1. [apptronik.com](https://apptronik.com/) — Company homepage
2. [apptronik.com/about-us](https://apptronik.com/about-us) — About Us / History / Mission
3. [apptronik.com/careers](https://apptronik.com/careers?gh_src=B+Capital+job+board) — Careers page / Perks & Culture
4. [apptronik.com/careers/job-listings](https://apptronik.com/careers/job-listings) — Open job listings
5. [linkedin.com/company/apptronik-inc.](https://www.linkedin.com/company/apptronik-inc.) — LinkedIn company profile (revenue, headcount, funding, employee breakdown)

## Other roles at Apptronik

- [Principal Robotics Machine Learning Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-robotics-machine-learning-engineer-apptronik-austin-x92kzcwg7nyv) — Austin, TX
- [Director, Product Learning & Development](https://feeny.ai/job/director-product-learning-development-apptronik-austin-tk6vhqnh31yt) — Austin, TX
- [Global Fleet Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/global-fleet-operations-specialist-apptronik-austin-zwtj3ybk24q2) — Austin, TX
- [Senior Software Engineer, ML Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-ml-infrastructure-apptronik-austin-18dndaxv44yc) — Austin, TX
- [Staff Perception Hardware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-perception-hardware-engineer-apptronik-austin-19bevj2req6r) — Austin, TX
- [ECAD Librarian](https://feeny.ai/job/ecad-librarian-apptronik-austin-gyswfs07ryd6) — Austin, TX
- [Staff Video Producer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-video-producer-apptronik-austin-18bpvt87c36w) — Austin, TX
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- [Senior Electrical Engineer - Power](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-electrical-engineer-power-apptronik-austin-7h4k1bc0f1t1) — Austin, TX