# Senior Low-level Control Engineer - End-Effectors at Humanoid > Onsite · United Kingdom · Senior · Software engineering · open. Source: https://alderhq.app/jobs/ashby%3Ahumanoid%3Ac08fb643-c84c-4e48-a731-349e7acad6b8 (read 2026-11-05). ## Facts (observed) - Company: [Humanoid](https://alderhq.app/companies/humanoid) - Location text: UK, London - Where it can be done from (inferred): Onsite · United Kingdom (evidence: "Location: UK, London") - Posted: 2026-08-23 (74 days ago) - First seen by alder: 2026-11-02 · last verified: 2026-11-04 - Reposted: 0 times · edited: 0 times - Apply on the employer's site: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/humanoid/c08fb643-c84c-4e48-a731-349e7acad6b8 - Skills listed (inferred): C++ ## Pay and sponsorship - Posted pay: not posted - Market band for similar posted roles (London, n 24): p25 £92k, median £105k, p75 £133k ## Description (the employer's text) Here at Humanoid, we believe in a future where robots amplify human potential. That’s why we’ve set out on a mission to build the world’s most capable, commercially-scalable, and safe humanoid robots. We’re bringing that mission to life with HMND‑01 - our rapidly developed humanoid platform being deployed in real industrial environments - and we’re growing the team to take it even further. ### About the Role We are looking for a Senior Low-level Control Engineer to join our Control Team in London, focusing on control development and integration for our end-effectors. You will design, implement and validate actuator- and joint-level controllers and grasp-level behaviours across a family of end-effector variants - parallel and multi-finger grippers, vacuum and suction tooling, and purpose-built tooling for specific customer tasks. Each variant brings different actuation, different sensing and, critically, different transmission mechanisms: geared direct drives, cable- and tendon-driven routings, differential and coupled linkages, and underactuated designs where few actuators must produce adaptive, compliant grasping across many degrees of freedom. The ideal candidate has a solid background in control theory, strong software engineering skills in C++, and comfort working from real-time embedded control up through kinematics/dynamics and hardware debugging. You will work closely with mechanical and hardware engineers - early enough in the design cycle that your input shapes actuation and transmission choices rather than merely inheriting them. ### What You'll Do ### Low-Level Control Development Tune and validate actuator- and joint-space control loops (PID, feedforward, impedance/admittance, observers, state feedback) for multi-DoF end-effectors in ROS2. Develop grasp-level behaviours: grasp force control, compliant closing, slip detection and correction, and adaptive grasping on underactuated grippers. Implement safety and fault-handling mechanisms — thermal and over-current protection, stall and jam detection, grip-loss detection, safe behaviour on fault. ### Transmission Mechanisms, Modeling & System Identification Build and identify models of actuators, transmissions and mechanisms - geared, cable/tendon-driven, differential, coupled and underactuated - including compliance, friction, backlash, hysteresis, cable stretch and pretension effects. Own the joint-to-actuator abstraction for these mechanisms and the correct exposure of joint versus actuator state through the control stack. Contribute directly to transmission mechanism design: work with mechanical engineers on routing, reduction ratios, DoF coupling and underactuation strategy, bringing the controllability and observability consequences of each option into the conversation early. ### Sensor & Hardware Integration Integrate and calibrate end-effector sensing (F/T, tactile, encoders, temperature/current, vacuum feedback) with real-time acquisition across the control stack. Hands-on bring-up and debugging of new end-effectors, including test-stand work and vendor-supplied units. ### Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration Close the loop with mechanical/electronics engineers across sites on actuation, transmission and sensing requirements. Work with data collection, applications and deployment teams so end-effectors work reliably in real use. ### What We're Looking For Shipped real-time-safe, object-oriented C++ control software running on real hardware. Tuned and validated controllers on physical actuators, including sensor calibration and bring-up. Modelled, identified and controlled through real mechanical transmissions - gearing, cables/tendons, differentials, coupled linkages or underactuated mechanisms - and dealt with the compliance, friction and backlash they introduce. Worked on end-effectors or comparable multi-DoF mechanisms, including grasp control and supporting sensing. Debugged at the fieldbus and OS layer: e.g. EtherCAT or CAN, on an RTOS or real-time Linux. Strong control theory foundation (linear/nonlinear control, stability, observers, state estimation, feedback/feedforward, filtering, frequency-domain analysis) applied to multi-DoF mechanisms via Jacobians, numerical IK/FK, and URDF/Xacro. --- Data: alder (https://alderhq.app). Cite https://alderhq.app/jobs/ashby%3Ahumanoid%3Ac08fb643-c84c-4e48-a731-349e7acad6b8 and the date you read it. Observed facts come from the employer's own listing; location reach, level, family and skills are inferences.