Robotics Engineer, Staff

9 Mothers Defense develops AI-enabled systems to counter unmanned aerial threats. Our first product, EDDA, is an autonomous counter-sUAS point-defense platform designed to detect, track, and neutralize Group 1 drone threats. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

9 Mothers is seeking a Robotics Lead to own the control systems and motion engineering for our counter-sUAS platform. The Robotics Lead is responsible for the design, implementation, and tuning of the high-bandwidth control loops and state estimation that enable EDDA to track and engage small, fast-moving aerial targets with precision. This is a senior individual contributor position focused on control theory.

• Design, implement, and tune the control stack for EDDA's motion system, including actuators and gimbaled subsystems.

• Develop and maintain high-bandwidth control loops, including PID, feedforward, and model-predictive control as appropriate to the application.

• Develop and maintain state estimation pipelines that fuse inertial measurement unit data, encoder feedback, and perception output into a consistent target track.

• Characterize and model mechanical nonlinearities — including backlash, cogging, stiction, inertia, and structural modes — and develop compensation strategies.

• Build calibration, logging, and replay tools to support field performance analysis.

• Continuously improve slew rate, settling time, and pointing accuracy as the hardware platform evolves.

• 6+ years of professional experience in production controls engineering within motion systems, robotics, aerospace, or comparable real-time domains.

• Strong command of modern control theory, including state-space methods, observers, and model-predictive control.

• Proficiency in Rust, C, or C++ for real-time code, and Python for analysis and tooling.

• Demonstrated track record of bringing a complex physical system to production-grade performance.

• U.S. citizenship and ability to pass a background check.

• Experience with gimbal, turret, or pointing-system design.

• System identification and model-based control experience.

• Hands-on experience with motor drivers, CAN bus, and RTOS targets.

• Experience with ROS 2 or DDS middleware in production.

• Active security clearance, or eligibility to obtain one.

• Prior defense startup experience

• Passion for building robots or engineering projects as a hobby

1. Phone call with recruiter (30 min)

2. First Round Virtual Interview (2 hour 15 min total) via MS Teams

   1. Part 1 (1 hour) - An evaluation of your core technical skills to confirm alignment with the required technical knowledge for this role.

   2. Interview Break (15 min) - A quick pause to step away and grab a glass of water.

   3. Part 2 (1 hour) - A deep dive into your hands-on experience with relevant technologies to explore your specific domain expertise.

3. 2nd/Final Round Interview (6 hours) onsite in Austin, TX

   1. Hands-on Working Session (3 hours) - You’ll work through a small project alongside our team. We’ll look at how you approach problem-solving, leverage resources, and collaborate with team members to reach a solution.

   2. Architecture Discussion (1-2 hours) - A discussion focused on big-picture thinking—evaluating how components interact, system design considerations, and architectural recommendations.

   3. Wrap-up Conversations (30 min-1 hr) - Two 1:1 individual conversations to discuss team fit and address any questions you have for us.

4. Reference Checks & Offer