Software Engineering Intern (Robotics)
Python, software architecture and 3D applications
Location: Zurich area, Switzerland
Contract: Internship, 6 months
Start: As soon as possible
About LAYERED
LAYERED turns one of construction’s hardest, least-automated trades into precise, autonomous robotic work. We build mobile robots that plaster and finish surfaces directly on site. And we mean plaster — the thick, structural coat that levels a wall and turns rough construction into a finished room. It’s not a niche: plastering is a standardized, code-governed step on virtually every building, endlessly repeated and still applied by hand. Skilled, punishing work that fewer and fewer people want to do, and one reason on-site productivity has barely moved in decades. That makes it a vast, well-defined and chronically under-staffed market: exactly the kind of problem worth handing to a robot.
Spun out of ETH Zurich’s Gramazio Kohler Research, we have developed a full-scale mock-up construction site in our lab and have already started to take the robots onto live construction sites, with clients in Switzerland and France and pilots growing across the rest of Europe. Now we’re scaling from early pilots into a growing fleet — and we’re building the software team that makes it happen.
The role
This is a software engineering internship inside a robotics company. You’ll help build the software we use to prepare, test and operate our construction robots — mostly Python, with a strong focus on architecture, testing and improving an existing technical codebase that touches 3D environments, robotic planning, operator applications and physical machines.
You don’t need to be a robotics specialist. We’re primarily looking for a strong software engineer who wants to apply their skills to a complex physical system and see their code turn into real robot behaviour on real construction sites.
What you will work on
Your main focus:
- Build and improve our Python software platform, organizing functionality into reliable, reusable components
- Design clear interfaces between software modules and contribute to architecture and technical design discussions
- Write characterization, unit and integration tests, and help identify, reproduce and fix software issues
- Improve code quality, readability, maintainability and documentation
You will also:
- Work on software that processes 3D environments, surfaces, geometries and trajectories
- Contribute to operator-facing tools for task preparation, visualization and robot operation
- Test your software on full-scale robotic systems in the workshop and on selected construction-site deployments
- Collaborate with engineers across robotics, perception, planning, control and machine learning
What we are looking for
Essential experience
- Currently completing or recently finished a BSc or MSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a closely related computing field
- Strong programming skills in Python
- Good understanding of software architecture, object-oriented programming and modular design
- Experience working within an existing or evolving codebase
- Familiarity with software testing, debugging and version control
- Ability to write clear, maintainable, well-documented code and to reason about complex systems
- Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with a multidisciplinary team
- Fluency in English
Applicants from fields such as Computational Science, Applied Mathematics or Physics are also welcome where they can show a strong software engineering and computer science background.
Particularly relevant experience
Experience in several of the following would be a strong advantage:
- Refactoring or restructuring an existing Python codebase
- Designing APIs or interfaces between software components; event-driven architecture
- Serialization, data models or schema management
- Graphical or operator-facing applications (Qt, PySide or similar)
- 3D geometry, point clouds or spatial data (Open3D, PCL or similar)
- Knowledge of C++ and familiarity with ROS or ROS 2
- Interest in robotics, motion planning, computer vision or machine learning
- Deploying software on robots, machines or other physical systems
Who you are
You like to move from your desk to the lab to a live construction site, and you’re excited to see your code tested quickly on a real machine rather than living in a repo. You enjoy building reliable, well-structured systems, and you’re comfortable understanding an existing codebase before improving it.
You’re curious, analytical and pragmatic — able to balance good software design with practical product requirements — and drawn to complex technical applications beyond conventional web or business software. You’re happy in a fast-moving startup where responsibilities evolve and you collaborate with engineers from very different disciplines.
Why join LAYERED
Your code won’t sit in simulation — it turns into physical motion and tangible work on real construction sites, often within days. You’ll take meaningful ownership of a technically important software project, gaining hands-on experience in Python architecture, testing, 3D applications and technical software, while working with a multidisciplinary team spun out of ETH Zurich.
This is the short-feedback-loop reality of a company moving from prototypes to frequent field deployments — exactly where an internship turns into real, visible impact.
Compensation & conditions
- Paid six-month internship; compensation based on experience and academic background
- Workplace in the Zurich area, with access to our robotic workshop and testing facilities
- Opportunity to join selected robot tests and construction-site deployments
- Possibility to continue with LAYERED after the internship, depending on performance and company needs
- Note: we’re relocating within the Zurich area over the coming months — the workshop will stay in the greater Zurich region
Apply
Send your application to jobs@layered.ch with:
- Your CV
- Links to relevant projects, GitHub repositories, technical work or personal software projects
- Your earliest possible starting date
Please include [SWINT] in the email subject.
LAYERED is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications regardless of race, colour, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, gender expression, disability or any other legally protected status.
- Internship
- Lupfig, Switzerland
Software Engineering Intern (Robotics)
Python, software architecture and 3D applications
Location: Zurich area, Switzerland
Contract: Internship, 6 months
Start: As soon as possible
About LAYERED
LAYERED turns one of construction’s hardest, least-automated trades into precise, autonomous robotic work. We build mobile robots that plaster and finish surfaces directly on site. And we mean plaster — the thick, structural coat that levels a wall and turns rough construction into a finished room. It’s not a niche: plastering is a standardized, code-governed step on virtually every building, endlessly repeated and still applied by hand. Skilled, punishing work that fewer and fewer people want to do, and one reason on-site productivity has barely moved in decades. That makes it a vast, well-defined and chronically under-staffed market: exactly the kind of problem worth handing to a robot.
Spun out of ETH Zurich’s Gramazio Kohler Research, we have developed a full-scale mock-up construction site in our lab and have already started to take the robots onto live construction sites, with clients in Switzerland and France and pilots growing across the rest of Europe. Now we’re scaling from early pilots into a growing fleet — and we’re building the software team that makes it happen.
The role
This is a software engineering internship inside a robotics company. You’ll help build the software we use to prepare, test and operate our construction robots — mostly Python, with a strong focus on architecture, testing and improving an existing technical codebase that touches 3D environments, robotic planning, operator applications and physical machines.
You don’t need to be a robotics specialist. We’re primarily looking for a strong software engineer who wants to apply their skills to a complex physical system and see their code turn into real robot behaviour on real construction sites.
What you will work on
Your main focus:
- Build and improve our Python software platform, organizing functionality into reliable, reusable components
- Design clear interfaces between software modules and contribute to architecture and technical design discussions
- Write characterization, unit and integration tests, and help identify, reproduce and fix software issues
- Improve code quality, readability, maintainability and documentation
You will also:
- Work on software that processes 3D environments, surfaces, geometries and trajectories
- Contribute to operator-facing tools for task preparation, visualization and robot operation
- Test your software on full-scale robotic systems in the workshop and on selected construction-site deployments
- Collaborate with engineers across robotics, perception, planning, control and machine learning
What we are looking for
Essential experience
- Currently completing or recently finished a BSc or MSc in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a closely related computing field
- Strong programming skills in Python
- Good understanding of software architecture, object-oriented programming and modular design
- Experience working within an existing or evolving codebase
- Familiarity with software testing, debugging and version control
- Ability to write clear, maintainable, well-documented code and to reason about complex systems
- Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with a multidisciplinary team
- Fluency in English
Applicants from fields such as Computational Science, Applied Mathematics or Physics are also welcome where they can show a strong software engineering and computer science background.
Particularly relevant experience
Experience in several of the following would be a strong advantage:
- Refactoring or restructuring an existing Python codebase
- Designing APIs or interfaces between software components; event-driven architecture
- Serialization, data models or schema management
- Graphical or operator-facing applications (Qt, PySide or similar)
- 3D geometry, point clouds or spatial data (Open3D, PCL or similar)
- Knowledge of C++ and familiarity with ROS or ROS 2
- Interest in robotics, motion planning, computer vision or machine learning
- Deploying software on robots, machines or other physical systems
Who you are
You like to move from your desk to the lab to a live construction site, and you’re excited to see your code tested quickly on a real machine rather than living in a repo. You enjoy building reliable, well-structured systems, and you’re comfortable understanding an existing codebase before improving it.
You’re curious, analytical and pragmatic — able to balance good software design with practical product requirements — and drawn to complex technical applications beyond conventional web or business software. You’re happy in a fast-moving startup where responsibilities evolve and you collaborate with engineers from very different disciplines.
Why join LAYERED
Your code won’t sit in simulation — it turns into physical motion and tangible work on real construction sites, often within days. You’ll take meaningful ownership of a technically important software project, gaining hands-on experience in Python architecture, testing, 3D applications and technical software, while working with a multidisciplinary team spun out of ETH Zurich.
This is the short-feedback-loop reality of a company moving from prototypes to frequent field deployments — exactly where an internship turns into real, visible impact.
Compensation & conditions
- Paid six-month internship; compensation based on experience and academic background
- Workplace in the Zurich area, with access to our robotic workshop and testing facilities
- Opportunity to join selected robot tests and construction-site deployments
- Possibility to continue with LAYERED after the internship, depending on performance and company needs
- Note: we’re relocating within the Zurich area over the coming months — the workshop will stay in the greater Zurich region
Apply
Send your application to jobs@layered.ch with:
- Your CV
- Links to relevant projects, GitHub repositories, technical work or personal software projects
- Your earliest possible starting date
Please include [SWINT] in the email subject.
LAYERED is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications regardless of race, colour, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, gender expression, disability or any other legally protected status.
To apply for this job email your details to jobs+swint@layered.ch