How to Hire Controls Engineers
Published April 2026 · Mycelium
Controls engineers are among the hardest hires in robotics. The combination of strong mathematics and production engineering experience is rare, and most of the best candidates are not identifying as robotics engineers.
This guide covers what controls engineering actually means in a robotics context, where to find the right people, and how to assess genuine depth.
Controls engineering in robotics vs aerospace vs automotive
Controls engineers in aerospace work on flight dynamics and navigation systems — highly safety-critical, rigorous, mathematical. Automotive controls engineers work on chassis dynamics, powertrain, and ADAS actuators. Robotics controls engineers work on joint-level and whole-body control, manipulation, and physical interaction.
The mathematical foundations are shared — state-space models, Lyapunov stability, optimisation. The deployment context differs. Aerospace and automotive candidates often transfer well, but need onboarding to robotics-specific constraints.
Classical control vs MPC
Classical control (PID and variants) is well understood and widely used. For simple, well-modelled systems it remains the right choice. Model predictive control (MPC) is increasingly used for complex multi-joint systems, whole-body control, and situations where constraint handling matters.
Most humanoid robotics companies need MPC depth. Most industrial manipulation companies can use classical control augmented with feedforward terms. Be specific about what your system actually requires — it changes the candidate pool significantly.
Assessing mathematical depth
A controls interview should include stability analysis, not just implementation questions. Ask candidates to walk through a linearisation, discuss a Lyapunov argument, or explain when a particular controller would fail.
The difference between someone who can implement a given controller and someone who can design one from system requirements is large. Determine which you need before you interview.
Common title mismatches
The right candidate may be titled: dynamics engineer, flight controls engineer, mechatronics engineer, motion planning engineer, or robotics engineer. Job title searches alone miss the best candidates.
Searching by technical skills — MPC, trajectory optimisation, impedance control, whole-body control — is more effective than searching by title when the candidate pool is small.
Speak to a specialist robotics recruiter
If you are hiring controls engineers and need support finding candidates with real depth, get in touch.