Senior Robotics Engineer - SLAM Expert [m/f/d]

Nature Robots GmbH is a fast-growing robotics and AI startup headquartered in Osnabrück, Germany, revolutionizing sustainable agriculture. As a DFKI spin-off, we develop cutting-edge, full-stack autonomy systems for autonomous robots, especially in complex, unstructured, and regenerative farming environments like agroforestry, orchards, vineyards, and vegetable fields. We are building the foundation for a future where autonomous farming is scalable, sustainable, and profitable, tackling major global challenges such as labor shortage, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

• ## The Opportunity
• We’re looking for a Senior Robotics SLAM Expert with a strong background in 3D mapping, localization, and real-time navigation to join our growing R&D team. You will take a leading role in the design, implementation, and deployment of our 6D SLAM systems, crucial for enabling GNSS/RTK-free navigation in heterogeneous agricultural environments. Help us develop the next generation of AI-powered autonomous mobile robots.
• ## Your Role
• Lead the development of real-time SLAM pipelines for 3D LiDAR, RGB-D, and multispectral sensor fusion.
• Design and implement modular 6D SLAM solutions for dynamic, unstructured outdoor environments (forests, agroforestry, orchards).
• Integrate state-of-the-art SLAM, odometry, and sensor calibration algorithms into production-grade autonomous systems.
• Collaborate with navigation, perception, and software platform teams to ensure tight coupling between mapping, localization, and planning.
• Evaluate and improve the performance of existing SLAM implementations (accuracy, robustness, runtime) on our robot platforms Lero.03 and other customer machines in orchards and vineyards, as well as agroforestry systems.
• Conduct field deployments, benchmark tests, and system validation in real-world agricultural use cases.
• Contribute to the development of digital twins and 3D simulation environments for agroforestry and regenerative farming.
• Work in ROS 2 and extend our Move Base Flex framework with SLAM-specific behavior trees and fallback strategies.

• Master’s or PhD in Robotics, Computer Vision, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or similar.
• 3+ years of experience with real-time 6D SLAM (LiDAR-, Visual-, RGB-D-, or Multi-Sensor SLAM) in robotics applications.
• Deep expertise in C++, ROS/ROS 2, and modern SLAM frameworks (e.g. Cartographer, GTSAM, RTAB-Map, Kimera, ORB-SLAM).
• Proficient with point cloud processing (PCL, Open3D), pose graph optimization, loop closure, and 3D map representations.
• Solid background in sensor fusion, including IMU pre-integration, time synchronization, and extrinsic calibration.
• Knowledge of 3D environment reconstruction, mesh generation, and localization in previously mapped areas.
• Strong software engineering skills with version control (Git), CI/CD, and testing frameworks.
• Passion for regenerative agriculture, autonomy, and working in the field (literally).
• Bonus: Experience with hyperspectral SLAM, SLAM in forested/agroforestry environments, or agricultural robots.