How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
One nitpick -
Transitioning from industrial automation into humanoid-specific roles is a increasingly common and viable path, since a lot of the underlying skills (motion control, safety systems, real-time software) transfer directly, even though the specific dynamics and learned-control components are new.
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jessica_faro
- Posts: 95
- Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2025 5:26 am
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
@kim37 I can speak to this a bit.
How much ML background a controls role actually requires varies a lot by company and team - some whole-body control positions remain heavily classical-optimization-focused, while others increasingly expect familiarity with reinforcement learning or imitation learning even for what used to be a purely classical-controls job.
they/them
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
Short answer:
24/7 factory-pilot support roles (the engineers keeping a deployed fleet running through real shifts) reportedly carry a real burnout risk, since they combine the unpredictability of early-stage hardware with the operational pressure of a live production environment.
Kind of makes me think about how different this all looked even three years ago.
"Torque is a lifestyle."
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
Same conclusion I've come to. Also worth noting:
Companies like Figure, 1X, Apptronik, and Agility Robotics are reportedly pulling senior ROS, controls, and learning engineers directly out of warehouse-automation and industrial-robotics roles - a sign of real talent competition between adjacent industries, not just fresh grads entering the field. Robotics engineers in the US were reportedly seeing $150k-$205k total comp at mid-level and $205k-$300k at senior level in 2026, with humanoid- and foundation-model-specialist roles clearing $280k-$475k - a meaningful premium over general robotics/automation roles.
Opinions my own, not my employer's.
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
@barbara50 To answer this directly:
The common academic path into this field is a master's or conversion course in robotics or machine learning, followed by an internship or research role at a known lab or company - a PhD is common but increasingly not strictly required for industry roles, especially on the applied engineering side. Remote work remains genuinely limited for most hands-on humanoid hardware roles, given the need for physical access to robots and test environments, though software-only roles (simulation, perception algorithms, offline learning) increasingly do offer remote or hybrid arrangements.
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
Follow-up question though -
Remote work remains genuinely limited for most hands-on humanoid hardware roles, given the need for physical access to robots and test environments, though software-only roles (simulation, perception algorithms, offline learning) increasingly do offer remote or hybrid arrangements.
they/them
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
@dubois35 Slight correction, though the overall point stands:
In the UK, base salaries for robotics roles reportedly range from around £50,000 for new graduates up to roughly £200,000 for senior whole-body-control or reinforcement-learning specialists - a notably wide band reflecting how specialized the top end of the field has become.
"The best actuator is the one that doesn't overheat."
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
@rossi30 Yeah, this tracks with what I've read as well.
Robotics engineers in the US were reportedly seeing $150k-$205k total comp at mid-level and $205k-$300k at senior level in 2026, with humanoid- and foundation-model-specialist roles clearing $280k-$475k - a meaningful premium over general robotics/automation roles.
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sven.smith4
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2026 3:48 pm
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
I'd take that specific number with a grain of salt, honestly.
RSS (Robotics: Science and Systems), ICRA, and the IEEE-RAS Humanoids conference are commonly cited as the most directly relevant venues for someone specifically interested in legged locomotion and humanoid control research, as opposed to broader AI/ML conferences.
Opinions my own, not my employer's.
Re: How do you decide between a bigger scope at a smaller company vs a narrower scope at a bigger one?
Slightly off-topic, but related:
How much ML background a controls role actually requires varies a lot by company and team - some whole-body control positions remain heavily classical-optimization-focused, while others increasingly expect familiarity with reinforcement learning or imitation learning even for what used to be a purely classical-controls job. Remote work remains genuinely limited for most hands-on humanoid hardware roles, given the need for physical access to robots and test environments, though software-only roles (simulation, perception algorithms, offline learning) increasingly do offer remote or hybrid arrangements.
he/him