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A leading robotics and automation organization is seeking a Controls Software Engineer to join the team behind one of the largest industrial robotics deployments in the world - a fleet of advanced robotic pick-and-place workcells operating across automated fulfillment sites, scaling from over 1,000 machines today to several thousand in the next two years.

This is a software-engineering role in a controls environment - not a traditional PLC position. The team is built largely of engineers from C/C++ software backgrounds who work hands-on with real industrial control hardware. If you pair genuine software-development ability with real controls or automation experience, this is a rare chance to do deep, high-impact work at extraordinary scale.

The Role

As a Controls Software Engineer, you'll support and improve the control software running across the deployed robotic fleet:

Investigate and resolve bugs and faults in the deployed control application across a large fleet of machinesDrive rate and throughput improvements across the servo control, motion orchestration, and state-handling layersWork hands-on with real hardware in the lab - servos, drives, sensors, vision systems, and conveyanceDiagnose issues from telemetry, logs, and alarm history; take fixes from root cause through to deploymentAuthor change documentation and runbooks, and align stakeholders before fleet-wide rollouts

The deployed application is written in Structured Text (CODESYS) on Linux-based industrial PCs, with a parallel migration into modern C++ underway. The codebase is large and mature - success here is as much about strong software-engineering instincts as it is about controls.

What We're Looking For (Non-Negotiables)

Real controls experience - hands-on work with industrial control systems, machine control, motion/servo, robotics, or embedded real-time automationA firm grasp of software development in a modern, lower-level language - ideally C, C++, Rust, or Structured TextThe ability to navigate and contribute to a large, mature codebase with strong software-engineering disciplineWillingness to work on-site in Seattle or Boston

Important: CODESYS and Structured Text are not strict requirements. Most of the team came from C/C++ backgrounds and picked up CODESYS on the job. If you have strong lower-level software skills and genuine controls or automation experience, you're in scope - the Structured Text can be learned on the job.

Strongly Preferred

Structured Text on any platform - CODESYS, TwinCAT, Allen-Bradley, SiemensEmbedded, real-time, or industrial software experienceServo/motion control, robotics, or Cartesian / pick-and-place workcell backgroundLinux at the system level; EtherCAT or industrial fieldbus experienceExperience supporting production or fleet-scale systems

Experience Level

Open to strong mid-level engineers (3-5 years) who can own and deliver, through to senior engineers who can plug in immediately. What matters is the combination of real controls exposure and genuine software-engineering ability.

GCS is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.

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