Staff Robotics Engineer - State Estimation
About Us
Are you ready to build the future of supply chain? At Gather AI, we’re not just creating software; we’re pioneering a new era of warehouse intelligence. We’ve developed a groundbreaking, vision-powered platform that uses autonomous drones and existing equipment to capture real-time data, completely digitizing workflows that have historically been manual and error-prone. This means facilities operate smarter, safer, and more efficiently, ultimately redefining “on-time, in full” delivery.
If you’re looking for an opportunity to contribute to truly transformative technology and make a significant impact in a vital industry, Gather AI is the place for you. We’re leading the charge in the rapidly evolving robotics industry, and we invite you to join us in reshaping the global supply chain, one intelligent warehouse at a time.
About the Team
Our Autonomy team works at the frontier of real-world robotics — building and deploying systems that navigate, perceive, and act in complex, uncontrolled warehouse environments. The team spans drone autonomy, perception, and MHE Vision, and operates across multiple active product lines with production deployments at customer sites. It’s a small, senior group where individual contributions are immediately visible and where the hardest problems are also the most important ones.
About the Role
We are looking for a Staff Robotics Engineer – State Estimation to take ownership of one of the most critical subsystems in our product: localization and state estimation across our drone and MHE Vision platforms. You will lead the evolution of our state estimation software — reducing reliance on fiducial markers, improving robustness to real-world conditions, and expanding these capabilities to new product lines including Wearables.
This is a hands-on, deeply technical role for someone who thrives at the intersection of rigorous math and production deployment — designing creative solutions that meet hard constraints, then seeing them through to the field.
What You’ll Do
- Lead state estimation across the drone platform and MHE Vision, evolving systems to be robust to vibration, variable lighting, and damaged or missing fiducial markers
- Reduce dependency on Aruco tags by designing and implementing improved localization approaches that operate reliably with fewer or no fiducial markers
- Take ownership of the Slamcore system for MHEV, managing both technical performance and the ongoing vendor relationship
- Design new state estimation methods, implement them in production C++ and Python, and iterate based on field data and real-world edge cases
- Extend state estimation capabilities to Wearables by end of year, contributing to the next generation of Gather AI’s product portfolio
- Collaborate closely with the autonomy and perception teams to ensure state estimation integrates with flight planning, sensor pipelines, and broader system constraints
What You’ll Need
- 10+ years of engineering experience with hands-on deployment of state estimation or autonomy systems in real-world, uncontrolled environments
- Deep expertise in filtering techniques (EKF and variants), SLAM, and VIO — with production experience, not just academic familiarity
- Proficiency with optimization libraries such as GTSAM and Ceres
- Strong C++ and Python skills for implementing and deploying production robotics systems
- BS or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred
Nice to Have
- Computer vision and image processing experience
- Familiarity with functional safety standards and safety-critical systems
- Experience in GPS-denied indoor environments such as aerial systems or warehouses
- Experience mentoring or leading other engineers in a robotics context