Head of On-Robot Software

Head of On-Robot Software At Rhoda AI, we're building the full-stack foundation for the next generation of humanoid robots — from high-performance, software-defined hardware to the foundational models and video world models that control it. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real-world environments and handling scenarios unseen in training. We work at the intersection of large-scale learning, robotics, and systems, with a research team that includes researchers from Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and beyond. We're not building a feature; we're building a new computing platform for physical work — and with over $400M raised, we're investing aggressively in the R&D, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make that a reality. We're looking for a senior leader to build and lead our on-robot software organization. The Head of On-Robot Software will own the full software stack that runs on the robot — from real-time control to system integration, sensor interfaces, teleoperation, networking, safety systems, and cloud connectivity. This role is ideal for someone who has led robotics software teams, shipped mature, multi-subsystem robotic products, and is comfortable owning everything that makes the robot actually work. What You'll Do Technical Leadership - Own the complete on-robot software architecture, including: real-time control (low-level, whole-body, model-based + learned), system services and middleware (ROS2 or equivalent), sensor fusion, calibration, and time synchronization, actuator drivers & hardware abstraction layers, safety systems, watchdogs, and fault recovery, networking, teleoperation, cloud interfaces, and data logging & telemetry architecture - Define the robot's modular software architecture to enable AI control, scalable development, and reliable production operation - Ensure real-time performance, stability, and safety across all robot subsystems - Oversee integration of AI models into the robot stack, including runtime execution, APIs, and failover systems Cross-Functional Ownership - Collaborate with the hardware team on sensors, actuators, embedded firmware, and system reliability - Work with the AI team on API surfaces for learned controllers, high-level planners, and data collection pipelines - Partner with product and operations teams to ensure the software supports manufacturing, testing, fleet ops, and customer deployments - Lead on-robot bring-up for new hardware revisions and new platforms Team Leadership & Execution - Build and lead a multidisciplinary robot software team (controls, systems, drivers, real-time, networking) - Establish engineering culture, coding standards, testing frameworks, simulation processes, and release pipelines - Own hiring, performance management, and budgets for the robot software group - Drive execution toward reliable, production-ready releases Delivery & System Reliability - Deliver consistent, high-quality robot control and behavior in real environments - Build fleet-ready infrastructure: over-the-air updates, telemetry, remote debugging, and log streaming - Ensure all on-robot components are scalable, debuggable, and maintainable - Implement real-time testing frameworks, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and end-to-end validation What We're Looking For - 10+ years of experience in robotics software or real-time systems; 5+ years in engineering leadership - Shipped one or more production-grade robotic systems (e.g., arms, AMRs, industrial robots, humanoids) - Deep experience with: robot operating systems (ROS2 or similar), real-time control & estimation, sensor fusion and hardware drivers, distributed systems on-robot, networking, APIs, and systems integration - Strong C and Python skills - Experience leading large teams and coordinating across hardware, AI, and product - Strong intuition for safety, reliability, debuggability, and operational excellence Nice to Have (But Not Required) - Exp ... (truncated, view full listing at source)