Robotics Framework Engineer II

ICON is looking for a Robotics Framework Engineer II to join our Software team in Austin, TX. This role sits at the intersection of robotics software and engineering infrastructure — owning the frameworks, tooling, and DevOps systems that allow ICON’s robotics engineers to move fast and ship reliable, production-quality code. You will help define and maintain the foundational platform layer that every robotics team at ICON builds on. This role is based at ICON’s Austin, TX headquarters, and will report to the Director of Embedded Software Engineering.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design, build, and maintain the shared robotics software framework, including RT/NRT interface patterns, component lifecycle standards, and inter-process communication conventions.
• Own the CI/CD pipelines for embedded and robotics codebases, including automated build, test, and deployment workflows across simulation and hardware targets.
• Develop and maintain software-in-the-loop (SIL) environments and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test infrastructure to support continuous integration and system verification.
• Build and maintain shared robotics toolkits (e.g., kinematics libraries, coordinate frame utilities, trajectory math) for reuse across ICON’s robotic platforms.
• Establish and enforce code quality standards, branching strategies, and release processes across the embedded and robotics teams.
• Author and maintain Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) and developer documentation to capture framework decisions and onboarding guidance.
• Collaborate with robotics engineers and embedded software leads to understand platform needs and translate them into durable, well-tested infrastructure.
• Support onboarding of new engineers by maintaining tooling that enables fast ramp-up and independent contribution.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Robotics, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a robotics or embedded systems environment.
• Proficiency in modern C++ (17 or newer) and Python.
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or equivalent).
• Working knowledge of robotic arm kinematics (forward and inverse) and foundational robotics math.
• Experience with robotics frameworks such as ROS/ROS2 and simulation environments such as Gazebo or MuJoCo.
• Demonstrated ability to write production-quality, well-documented, testable code in a team environment.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Experience developing shared libraries or SDKs used by multiple engineering teams.
• Familiarity with real-time systems and EtherCAT or similar fieldbus protocols.
• Experience with cross-compilation toolchains for embedded targets.
• Contributions to or ownership of internal developer tooling, onboarding infrastructure, or software architecture documentation.
• Exposure to safety-critical software development practices or formal verification methods.
• A platform-builder mindset — someone who finds deep satisfaction in making other engineers more effective.