Robotics Simulation Engineer II

About the role

ICON is looking for a Robotics Simulation Engineer to join our Software team. As a Robotics Simulation Engineer, you will build and maintain high-fidelity simulation environments that accelerate the development, validation, and certification of ICON's robotic systems. You will be responsible for developing physics-accurate models of ICON's robotic platforms, bridging simulation and hardware to support a "test-as-you-fly" development paradigm, and contributing to shared kinematics and dynamics toolkits used across all ICON programs. This is a full-time, onsite role is based at ICON's Austin, TX headquarters and will report to the Director of Robotics.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Build and maintain high-fidelity simulation environments for ICON's robotic systems.

Develop and tune physics-accurate models of ICON's robotic platforms — including kinematics, dynamics, actuator behavior, and material interaction — validated against physical hardware test data.

Own the sim-to-real gap: systematically measure and reduce discrepancies between simulation predictions and physical system behavior.

Contribute to and maintain shared kinematics and dynamics libraries that are reused across ICON's robotic programs.

Integrate simulation environments into CI/CD pipelines to enable automated regression testing of motion planning, control, and safety-critical software components.

Collaborate with controls, perception, and mechatronics engineers to ensure simulated sensor models and environmental conditions are sufficient for algorithm validation.

Participate in architecture decisions for the simulation layer and its interfaces to the broader software stack.

Participate in design and code reviews to maintain consistency and high-quality output.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Master's degree or higher in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.

3+ years of professional experience in robotic simulation, dynamics modeling, or related robotics software development.

Hands-on experience with NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, or a comparable physics simulation platform (e.g., Gazebo, MuJoCo, Webots).

Strong foundational understanding of rigid body dynamics, robotic arm kinematics (forward and inverse), and multi-body simulation.

Proficiency in modern C++ (17 or newer) and Python within a professional robotics development environment.

Experience integrating simulation environments into automated test and CI/CD workflows.

Familiarity with robotics frameworks such as ROS 2 and their interaction with simulation backends.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Experience developing and tuning robot models and environments in physics-based simulators.

Familiarity with physics-informed modeling, including actuator dynamics, joint compliance, and contact/friction modeling.

Experience with sim-to-real transfer techniques and systematic approaches to quantifying and reducing the sim-to-real gap.

Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset; comfortable making data-driven decisions about model fidelity tradeoffs.

Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of performance.

ICON is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an innovative, inclusive, diverse and discrimination-free work environment. Employment with ICON is based on merit, competence, and qualifications. It is our policy to administer all personnel actions, including recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting employees, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other legally protected classification in accordance with applicable federal and state laws. Consistent with the obligations of these laws, ICON will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Furthermore, as a federal government contractor, the Company maintains an affirmative action program which furthers its commitment and complies with recordkeeping and reporting requirements under certain federal civil rights laws and regulations, including Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (as amended).

Headhunters and recruitment agencies may not submit candidates through this application. ICON does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency submissions for candidates and will not pay fees to any third-party agency without a prior agreement with ICON.

As part of our compliance with these obligations, the Company invites you to voluntarily self-identify as set forth below. Provision of such information is entirely voluntary and a decision to provide or not provide such information will not have any effect on your employment or subject you to any adverse treatment. Any and all information provided will be considered confidential, will be kept separate from your application and/or personnel file, and will only be used in accordance with applicable laws, orders and regulations, including those that require the information to be summarized and reported to the federal government for civil rights enforcement purposes.

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