Robotics - Control Engineer

Join Way of Water, a funded field-robotics project at ETH Zurich (Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, Research D'Andrea). This is a project employee (staff) role focused on delivering engineering work for the life of the project. The team builds autonomous surface robots that operate outdoors, on real water, as a coordinated fleet. The role offers ownership and the opportunity to shape how robots move, sense, and recover in challenging environments. Compensation is competitive for a funded project role and depends on experience. The position is 100% fixed-term project staff (~18 months).

• Own the behaviour of physical robots: how they move, hold intent, coordinate, and fail gracefully.
• Turn ideas into working software on real hardware, then harden it with experiments you help design and run.
• Work at the seams with sensors, actuators, mechanical limits, and electrical realities.
• Close loops from field evidence back into better behaviour.
• Make testing and commissioning repeatable for the team, not a one-off exercise.
• Share learnings through clear notes, teachable setups, and enable students and colleagues to build on your work.

• About 0–5 years of hands-on experience after your degree; internships, thesis projects, Focus projects, and paid project work count.
• Background in robotics, control, mechanical or electrical engineering, computer science, or equivalent practice.
• Depth in dynamics, estimation, or control of physical systems.
• Evidence of shipped behaviour on real robots or comparable cyber-physical systems, not only simulation.
• Hands-on work is required: write, run, and debug software on real hardware yourself (bench bring-up, field trials, logs, and measurements).
• Comfort writing and debugging software that interfaces with hardware (e.g., C/C++, Python, or similar).
• Judgement under incomplete information: investigate, measure, decide, and iterate.
• Appetite for outdoor and on-water testing; field days are part of the job, including Lake Zürich and partner sites.
• Independent working style and documentation habits that help a small team scale.
• Experience with ROS/ROS 2, embedded or real-time constraints, multi-robot systems, or published technical work is welcome.

• Competitive compensation for a funded project role, depending on experience.
• Opportunity to start with a control and autonomy focus and grow into broader robotics craft and ownership.
• Work naturally expands into estimation, planning interfaces, system integration, field campaigns, and safety-minded verification.
• Potential opportunity to join a planned spin-off early if mutually fit after or alongside project delivery.

ETH Zurich's Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control (IDSC) is home to the Way of Water project, focused on building autonomous surface robots for real-world environments. ETH Zurich values diversity, sustainability, and an inclusive culture, promoting equality of opportunity and working towards a climate-neutral future.

Work closely with established entrepreneurs, world-class scientists, and engineers who have built a billion-dollar company, sent hardware to the International Space Station, and created live performance-art installations at the Venice Biennale. Mechanical and electronics colleagues own their layers, and you learn enough of theirs to integrate well.