Hi all, its Your Friendly Neighborhood Navigator here.
I’m looking to bring on a contract-to-hire engineer next year to help me support Nav2, the open-source ROS community, sponsors, and Nav2 deployed customers. This is a great opportunity to work directly with me on a day-to-day basis making Nav2 better and empowering Nav2 users to commercial success globally! This role would start Jan-Feb 2026 and is required to be local in the SF Bay Area without visa sponsorship requirements.
Open Navigation is the host organization of the ROS 2 Navigation framework, Nav2. Founded and led by Nav2’s primary maintainer and lead developer, we provide enterprise support services, partnerships, and sponsorship opportunities for companies leveraging Nav2 for their various products and services to accelerate the robotics industry.
Nav2 is the world’s most deployed autonomous mobile robotics framework and solution, used by over 300 companies worldwide in production today. It powers everything from robots in the home, hotels, hospitals, agriculture, maritime, oil & gas, construction, logistics, and so much more.
Our services range from technical support, providing architectural review and educational resources, custom feature development, performance optimization, system integration, ROS 2 architecture, and sponsorship programs for our open-source solutions. We bridge the gap between cutting-edge open-source innovation and production-ready commercial deployments, offering unparalleled expertise in path planning, sensor fusion, and real-world autonomous systems.
Role Description
This is a full-time contract-to-hire role for a Robotics Engineer in the San Francisco CA. Applicants should be prepared to be in-office 3-4 days a week, but have the flexibility to work from home or elsewhere under circumstances of convenience (dentist or dr appointment, sick, large delivery expected, transit issues, etc). This role would begin in late-January or early-Feburary 2026, depending on candidates needs.
The Robotics Engineer will focus on designing, developing, and implementing navigation and mobility solutions for robotics systems in Nav2 or client systems. Day-to-day tasks include analyzing requirements, developing software algorithms, optimizing performance of robotic systems, debugging complex navigation issues, assisting in Nav2 maintenance, building physically accurate simulations, debug hardware integration issues, and related tasks. This role will involve heavy contact with external partner organizations and contracting clients.
Qualifications
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Excellent understanding of mobile robotics navigation technologies and fundamentals
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Strong analytical skills & process-oriented thinking to solve complex challenges in robotics and navigation
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Experience in C++ Software Development with a focus on implementing navigation and mobility algorithms
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Some experience with Python, Launch, CI/CD, Linux, Docker, and Git
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Deep professional expertise in at least one area of mobility: planning, control, perception, environmental modeling, localization, AI, or autonomy
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Highly independent, motivated learner, and able to apply modern research
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Excellent written and verbal communication skills to collaborate with various stakeholders
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Prior experience working with ROS (Robot Operating System) is required
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Prior experience working with Nav2 and contributing to Nav2 is highly prioritized
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Prior experience on robotics product(s) or service(s) based on ROS 2 is preferred
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Open Navigation is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.
If you feel you are well suited for this please apply on LinkedIn – or if we’ve met and you’re a contributor to Nav2/ROS 2 send me an email at info@opennav.org with your resume and a short blurb about your interest.
Steve Macenski
