Robotics Simulation & Control Engineer

About the role

Here at Humanoid, we believe in a future where robots amplify human potential. That’s why we’ve set out on a mission to build the world’s most capable, commercially-scalable, and safe humanoid robots. We’re bringing that mission to life with HMND‑01 - our rapidly developed humanoid platform being deployed in real industrial environments - and we’re growing the team to take it even further. ABOUT THE ROLE We design robots in simulation before building them in hardware. As a Robotics Simulation & RL Engineer, you will help design and validate future generations of our robotic platforms - including bipedal and wheeled systems - using physics simulation and reinforcement learning. You will develop tools to determine whether a robot design can perform real-world tasks before committing to hardware. Your work will directly inform robot architecture, actuator selection, sensor placement, and control strategies. A key responsibility of this role is owning and validating the canonical robot models (URDF and simulation assets) used across simulation and control stacks. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Design and evaluate new robot platforms using physics simulation; - Analyze robot capabilities including workspace, manipulability, dynamic balance, and torque limits; - Use reinforcement learning to stress-test robot designs and explore capability limits; - Own and maintain URDF models of current and future robot platforms; - Maintain the CAD → URDF → simulation pipeline; - Develop tools and benchmarks to evaluate locomotion, manipulation, and platform robustness; - Provide quantitative feedback to hardware teams on actuator sizing, joint placement, mass distribution, and sensor layout; - Collaborate with mechanical, control, and perception teams to guide platform design decisions. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - M.Sc http://M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Control, or a related field; - Strong foundation in robot kinematics and dynamics; - Experience with robot simulation environments (MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, Gazebo, or similar); - Experience with reinforcement learning in robotics or physics-based simulation; - Experience working with URDF or similar robot description formats; - Strong programming skills in Python and/or C++; - Experience training RL locomotion or manipulation policies. Nice to have: - Experience with legged, humanoid, or wheeled robots; - Experience with whole-body control or torque-controlled robots; - Experience with simulation-driven hardware design; - Experience building large-scale RL training pipelines. WHAT WE OFFER - Competitive equity: stock options with meaningful upside as we scale. - 30+ paid days off, including 23 days of annual leave, all UK bank holidays, and additional company closure days (including Christmas–New Year shutdown). - Private healthcare, including virtual and in-person care. - Pension scheme with 8% total contribution (5% employee, 3% employer) on full earnings. - Free daily breakfast, catered lunch, and snacks in-office. - Work at the frontier - collaborate daily with world-class engineers, researchers, and product experts building the next generation of AI and humanoid robotics. - Real ownership - direct access to founding leadership, meaningful input on product direction, and the ability to drive key initiatives from day one.