Senior / Staff Robotics and Controls Engineer
Capstan Medical
Menlo Park, CA, USA
Posted on Mar 25, 2026
Reports to: Manager of Robotics and Controls
Workplace Type: Hybrid (onsite average of 3 days/week in Santa Cruz and the
new Bay Area office near West Menlo Park).
new Bay Area office near West Menlo Park).
At Capstan Medical, we’re building one of the most exciting and innovative companies in medtech—developing a first-of-its-kind robotic platform for minimally invasive heart valve treatment. Our team combines surgical robotics, catheter-based delivery, and next-generation implants to transform complex procedures into safer, lower-stress solutions for patients and clinicians alike. As a highly collaborative, hands-on team, we move fast, wear multiple hats, and believe the best ideas can come from anyone.
Based in Santa Cruz, our unique workspace blends cutting-edge Bay Area innovation with a lifestyle-driven environment near trails, beaches, and open space—creating the perfect place to do meaningful, career-defining work.
What You’ll Do:
- Design, implement, and verify robotic control algorithms for Capstan's
catheter-based surgical platform — kinematics, dynamics, teleoperation,
and motion control. - Develop forward and inverse kinematic models for continuum and tendon-
driven mechanisms, and validate them against real-world data. - Build trajectory engines, drive modes, and constraint-aware motion
algorithms that translate surgeon intent into safe, precise catheter motion. - Design and execute characterization studies on actuators, tendon
transmissions, and full system performance; translate experimental results
into models, parameters, and acceptance criteria. - Define algorithm-level performance specifications and hazard-driven fault
detection thresholds; partner with Systems and Quality to support design
verification and regulatory submissions - Translate clinical and user needs into design requirements, prototype
rapidly on real hardware, and carry features through verification to
product launch - Drive technical direction for path planning, catheter control, or robotics
algorithms across multiple hardware programs (increased level of
architectural ownership and cross-program scope for Staff) - Mentor engineers on the team, lead design reviews, and contribute to
hiring and onboarding (increased level of mentorship for Staff) - Document your work through design reviews and released DHF
documentation, and identify gaps and pitch in as needed to keep the team
moving
Skills:
- Strong foundation in robot kinematics and dynamics - forward/inverse
kinematics, Jacobians, rigid-body dynamics, and ideally continuum,
concentric tube, or tendon-driven systems - Fluent with classical and modern control -- PID, feedforward, model-based,
optimal/MPC, impedance/admittance -- and the judgment to know when
each is appropriate - Hands-on experience implementing control algorithms in modern C++
(14/17/20) for real-time, safety-critical systems, with Python for rapid
prototyping, data analysis, and tooling - Motion planning and trajectory generation experience — constrained
nonlinear optimization, collision-aware planning, or task-space control
paradigms - State estimation and sensor fusion experience — Kalman/EKF/UKF, particle
filters, or nonlinear observers, with a working understanding of noise
models and sensor calibration - Comfortable characterizing real electromechanical systems on the bench;
you can design the experiment, run it, analyze the data, and turn it into a
model. - Close-to-hardware sensibility: encoders, motor controllers, force sensors,
brakes, IMUs -- you understand the gap between textbook systems and real
ones - Strong object-oriented design instincts, with the discipline to factor
algorithm code so it can be unit-tested, reviewed, and maintained as the
team scales - Medical robotics or safety-critical systems background -- you know why "it
works in sim" or "it works most of the time" isn't good enough - Understanding of how early design decisions cascade into downstream
cost; ability to make smart calls on clinical workflow, regulation, and risk
management to save time and effort later
Strongly Preferred:
- Flexible robotics experience -- concentric tube robots, tendon-driven, soft,
or other compliant manipulators - Surgical robotics or another regulated, safety-critical robotics background
- Shape sensing (FBGS), electromagnetic tracking, or other catheter-tip
localization experience - Experience integrating fluoroscopy, ultrasound, or CT imaging into robotic
guidance, registration, or visual servoing - ROS1 or ROS2 experience in production systems, with an understanding of
its real-time tradeoffs - Working knowledge of regulatory standards (FDA, IEC 62304, ISO 14971,
IEC 60601) and how they shape algorithm and architecture decisions - Experience with simulation environments (Drake, MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, or
custom) for development, regression, and verification - Familiarity with QNX or real-time Linux: you don't have to own the stack,
but you should understand the constraints it places on your algorithms - Track record of technical leadership and mentorship at a comparable
medical robotics or capital equipment company
Requirements:
- BS/MS in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering,
Computer Science, or equivalent; MS or PhD preferred - 5+ years (Senior) or 8+ years (Staff) of hands-on robotics or controls
development; PhD with directly relevant research or projects can offset
some industry experience - Track record of shipping robotic control algorithms in real systems, ideally
to production, IDE/clinical use, or FDA-cleared product - Experience navigating ambiguity in early- and mid-stage development
while delivering concrete, testable results - Experience with medical device development process — design control,
risk management, design verification — or equivalent experience in
another safety-critical regulated domain - Demonstrated ability to derive math from first principles and implement it
in working code; we want the whiteboard and the IDE in the same person - Strong written and verbal communication; you can write a clear design
doc, defend a design review, and explain a controller to a non-controls
engineer - Comfortable working hands-on in a lab environment alongside hardware,
benchtop fixtures, animals (preclinical), and clinicians - Ability to work in a hybrid work environment, working onsite an average
of 3 days a week, in our Santa Cruz HQ and our new Bay Area office near
West Menlo Park
We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, and disability, or other legally protected status.