Principal Tools Engineer, Simulation

About the role

San Carlos, CA (On-site)

Your Charter

Build the next generation of simulation tooling that powers robotics development at 1X. You will improve the simulator, developer workflows, and content pipelines that allow engineers to rapidly create environments, manage assets, automate testing, and validate robot behavior at scale. This role blends game engine engineering, developer tooling, technical art workflows, CI/CD infrastructure, and simulation platform development to create a world-class robotics development environment.

Key Outcomes

• Design and build scalable tooling that enables robotics engineers to efficiently create, manage, and test simulation environments throughout the development lifecycle.
• Improve end-to-end simulation content pipelines, including asset ingestion, environment creation, versioning, validation, and deployment workflows.
• Integrate simulators into automated testing frameworks and CI/CD pipelines that continuously validate robot behaviors across large simulation environments before production deployment.
• Build internal tools that improve developer productivity, reliability, and engineering velocity across all 1X software teams.
• Establish scalable platform architecture and engineering best practices that support long-term growth of the simulation ecosystem.

Key Competencies

• Deep expertise building developer tooling, simulation platforms, or game engine infrastructure.
• Strong systems thinking with experience designing scalable content pipelines and engineering workflows.
• Experience creating easy to use tools that empowers developers, designers, or technical artists.
• Excellent software engineering skills with a focus on performance, maintainability, and automation.
• Comfortable driving technical direction across multidisciplinary teams in a fast-moving startup environment.

Minimum Requirements

• 6+ years of professional experience (Senior) or 10+ years (Staff) developing game engine tooling, simulation platforms, developer tools, or large-scale content pipelines.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Game Development, or a related technical field.
• Strong proficiency in C++, C#, Python, or similar programming languages.
• Experience developing tools within Unreal Engine, Unity, proprietary game engines, or large-scale simulation environments.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines, automated testing frameworks, or deployment systems for engineering workflows.

Preferred Skills

• Experience building simulation platforms for robotics, autonomous systems, gaming, or digital twins.
• Experience developing end-to-end asset and content management pipelines, including import, validation, versioning, packaging, and deployment.
• Background as a Technical Artist, Tools Engineer, Build Engineer, or Engine Programmer with strong software engineering fundamentals.
• Familiarity with source control systems, build automation, cloud infrastructure, and continuous integration technologies.
• Experience developing tools for large multidisciplinary teams, including engineers, artists, designers, researchers, or simulation developers.
• Familiarity with ROS/ROS2, robotics simulation platforms (Isaac Sim, Gazebo, MuJoCo), or physics engines.

What Does a Successful 1X Team Member Look Like

• Team members at 1X who thrive here are builders.
• They move fast, own their work completely, and treat time like it’s the one thing you can’t get back - because it is.
• They say what they mean, finish what they start, and hold themselves to a standard before anyone has to ask.
• We push each other to be better, and we do it with honesty and respect.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
• 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches