Controls Engineer

About Orion Edge

We are an agile, early-stage startup in a rapid growth phase, developing next-generation electronic warfare (EW) and digital disruption equipment. Our mission is to deliver cutting-edge capabilities to the modern warfighter at speed. Orion Edge is currently delivering systems to the US Army and USSOCOM, and we are scaling quickly to support the broader Department of Defense (DoD). If you thrive in a fast-paced environment where your work directly impacts national security and you have the opportunity to scale your career with a growing company, you belong here.

Position Overview

As a Controls Engineer at Orion Edge, you will design, develop, and implement the intelligent brains behind our physical systems. You will specialize in closing the loop between digital software commands and real-world physical actuation. In this role, you will write the control algorithms and middleware that ingest high-level digital instructions and translate them into precise, deterministic mechanical motion.

If you have a strong background in robotics, love working with ROS 2, and get excited by seeing your code immediately drive physical motors, gimbals, or robotic systems, you are the ideal fit for this team.

This position requires U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain a U.S. Security Clearance.

Education Requirements

• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Robotics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (with a controls/mechatronics focus), or a closely related technical field.

Key Responsibilities

• Command Translation: Architect and implement software modules that ingest digital network commands and translate them into precise physical actuator, motor, or gimbal responses.
• Control Loop Development: Design, model, and tune feedback and feedforward control loops (PID, state-space) for real-time robotic hardware.
• Middleware Integration: Develop, configure, and maintain robust robotics software nodes and communication pipelines utilizing ROS 2.
• Hardware-Software Integration: Partner with firmware and electrical engineers to integrate sensors (IMUs, encoders, GPS) and actuators with high-level control frameworks.
• Testing & Tuning: Conduct hands-on testing on physical hardware and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments to calibrate and validate dynamic performance.
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Work at the intersection of software, electrical, and mechanical engineering to ensure flawless system-level coordination.

Required Skills & Experience

• Professional Experience: Minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience in controls, mechatronics, or robotics engineering.
• Robotics Middleware: Proven experience developing and debugging within ROS 2 environments, including creating custom nodes, messages, and services.
• Physical Actuation & Controls: Demonstrated experience ingesting digital commands (via APIs, network sockets, or serial buses) and translating them into physical motion (e.g., servo control, brushless DC motor drive, stepper control).
• Control Theory: Solid grasp of classical control theory, kinematics, dynamics, and real-time trajectory generation.
• Software Competency: Strong proficiency in C++ and Python within a Linux development environment.
• Industrial Protocols: Hands-on experience with standard communication and control protocols, including Ethernet (UDP/TCP), CAN/CANopen, SPI, I2C, and Serial.
• Diagnostic Tools: Proficiency debugging control systems using ROS-native diagnostic tools (e.g., RViz, rqt) as well as standard physical lab equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers).

Preferred Qualifications

• Unmanned Systems: Experience designing or integrating controls for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or multi-axis gimbal systems.
• Sensor Fusion: Practical experience implementing state estimators and sensor fusion algorithms (e.g., Kalman filters) using IMU, GPS, or optical tracking data.
• Real-Time Systems: Experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS) or real-time Linux kernels (PREEMPT_RT).
• Simulation Tools: Experience utilizing physics-based simulators (e.g., Gazebo, Webots, or MATLAB/Simulink) to model and validate control strategies prior to hardware deployment.
• Embedded Development: Basic familiarity with microcontrollers and low-level firmware in C to assist firmware teams with register-level motor driver debugging.

Professional Attributes

• Physically Grounded: You have a deep understanding of physics and mechanics, recognizing that software must respect the realities of inertia, friction, and latency.
• Methodical Problem Solver: You debug step-by-step, separating software communication lags from physical motor dynamics to locate the root cause of control instabilities.
• Clear Communicator: You can explain complex control concepts and kinematic constraints clearly to mechanical, electrical, and systems engineers.
• Self-Directed & Resourceful: You are comfortable working with incomplete system specifications, utilizing rapid prototyping to discover physical constraints.
• Curious & Collaborative: You love to learn from other engineering disciplines and eagerly bridge the gap between pure software development and physical hardware.

Salary: $95000 - $105000 per year