Founding Simulation Engineer- What if simulation wasn't the tool… but the product?

Simulation Engineer- What if simulation wasn't supporting the product... what if it was the product?

New York | On-site

$180,000–$300,000 + Equity

Some engineering problems are difficult because the technology is complex.

Others are difficult because nobody has solved them well before.

This is one of those problems.

We're working with an early-stage robotics company building a simulation platform that sits at the heart of autonomous system development.

They're looking for an exceptional Simulation Engineer who enjoys taking complex real-world systems and building software that models them with a level of accuracy engineers can genuinely trust.

This isn't about creating visualisations.

It isn't about demonstrations.

It's about engineering simulation environments accurate enough that technical teams can confidently develop, validate and improve real autonomous systems before they ever touch hardware.

What you'll own

You'll take ownership of the complete simulation lifecycle.

From understanding how a customer's physical system behaves...

...to building, calibrating and validating a simulation that faithfully represents it.

You'll work across software, robotics and physics to solve problems where precision matters.

Typical work includes:

• Building high-fidelity simulations of robotic systems and sensing technologies.
• Calibrating cameras, LiDAR, radar and other sensors against real-world behaviour.
• Designing repeatable validation methodologies that measure simulation accuracy.
• Developing Python tooling to automate calibration, testing and onboarding.
• Working directly with engineering teams to continuously improve simulation fidelity.
• Solving difficult technical challenges where software meets the physical world.

No two projects will be identical.

That's exactly why this role exists.

The engineer we're looking for

You're naturally curious.

You enjoy understanding how physical systems behave.

You don't stop once something works, you keep refining it until you're confident the result reflects reality.

You're someone who enjoys solving problems from first principles.

You've probably spent your career asking questions like:

"Why doesn't the simulation match what we're seeing?"

rather than,

"Can we work around it?"

You enjoy ownership.

You enjoy ambiguity.

You enjoy building things that haven't been built before.

Your experience

We're interested in engineers who have experience in several of the following areas:

• Robotics simulation
• High-fidelity sensor modelling
• Camera, LiDAR or radar simulation
• Python
• NVIDIA Isaac Sim or similar modern simulation environments
• Omniverse
• Digital twin development
• C++ and/or Rust

Experience with NVIDIA's simulation ecosystem is highly valued, but we're equally interested in engineers who have demonstrated the ability to build and validate complex simulation environments from first principles.

You'll probably recognise yourself

• You've built simulation platforms rather than simply used them.
• You've calibrated simulations against real hardware.
• You've owned technically ambiguous engineering projects from beginning to end.
• You enjoy solving difficult systems problems where software meets physics.
• You're comfortable working directly with engineers and customers to understand complex technical requirements.
• You're motivated by building technology that genuinely advances the state of the art.

This role probably isn't for you if...

• Your experience is primarily factory, logistics or process simulation.
• You've only worked on isolated simulation components without broader ownership.
• You prefer highly structured environments with narrowly defined responsibilities.
• You're looking to specialise in a single technology rather than solve multidisciplinary engineering problems.

Why this opportunity?

Some careers are built by maintaining existing systems.

Others are built by creating entirely new capabilities.

This opportunity offers the chance to tackle genuinely difficult engineering problems alongside an exceptional technical team, where your work will directly influence how advanced autonomous systems are developed in the future.

If you're looking for an environment that values technical depth, intellectual curiosity, high ownership and engineering excellence, we'd love to hear from you.

Please note: I'll be on annual leave until 17th August, so if you apply while I'm away, your application will be reviewed and I'll be in touch shortly after I return.