Field notes from the robotics catalog.
Hiring trends, salary intel, companies to watch, and how we source roles. Written for engineers and operators thinking about their next move.
Robotics engineer salaries in 2026: what 100 companies actually pay
Real disclosed comp bands from 3,511 active robotics job postings. Wayve pays highest base, not Zoox or NVIDIA. Anduril pays market. Full breakdown by company, stage, and level.
Which robotics companies are hiring in 2026 (with real numbers)
Which robotics companies are growing headcount right now. Anduril doubled monthly postings. Rockwell Automation is the surprise second. Full index from 5,540 active listings across 209 employers.
Where autonomous vehicle engineers actually get hired in 2026
Waymo dominates by size but doesn't post publicly. Zoox is aggressive Bay Area hiring. Aurora is a public company that pays like a startup. Wayve pays more than any of them. What the AV hiring market actually looks like right now.
What programming languages does robotics use in 2026
Python dominates. C++ is invisible in job postings but running everything. Rust is real (341 mentions). Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, and Drake are all in play. What 5,540 robotics postings say about the stack.
Where robotics engineers actually work in 2026
The geography of robotics hiring, from 5,540 active postings. Costa Mesa is the biggest hub thanks entirely to Anduril. Austin is quietly diversified. Detroit is basically gone.
The defense robotics hiring landscape in 2026: Anduril, Shield AI, Saronic, and the rest
Anduril is 2,157 active roles. Shield AI is 420. Saronic is 270. These three account for the bulk of defense-robotics hiring, but the interesting story is the smaller cohort behind them.
Humanoid robotics companies hiring in 2026: Figure, 1X, Apptronik, Agility, and more
The humanoid robot startup cohort by hiring velocity. 1X just started aggressive US hiring. Apptronik is off the Q1 peak. Boston Dynamics is quietly steady. Physical Intelligence is the interesting one.
Why we built Great Robots
I got tired of applying to robotics jobs that turned out to be filled six months ago. That's basically the origin story. The longer version is below.
