Junior Robotics Engineer

Company Background:

We are an innovative, early-stage robotics start-up developing autonomous, mobile robotic platforms for the commercial construction and equipment rental sectors. Our flagship product is a 3 wheeled electromechanical platform designed to autonomously follow workers on job sites, carrying essential tools, equipment, and materials, as well as doing the actual work for certain trade specific tasks. 

Our founder brings 35 years of hands-on experience in the construction industry as a California-licensed general, tile, and stone contractor, providing deep domain expertise to solve real-world trade challenges.

Product development is currently two-thirds complete. Mechanical engineering is spearheaded by Swope Design Solutions (known for their work with Dusty Robotics). On the software side, core control models—including Follow-Along, Remote Control, ROS2, and SLAM navigation—are established. We are currently consolidating these systems into a unified architecture, custom PCB design, and dedicated remote/mobile app interface.

We are seeking a lead engineer to direct the final software build and integration. This role offers the opportunity to take ownership of the technical implementation while collaborating closely with the founder, who is leading fundraising and strategic business development.

This position carries significant potential to transition into a full-time, long-term leadership role with revenue-sharing opportunities, rapid career advancement, and direct involvement in expanding our future product ecosystem.

Position Summary:

We are seeking a hands-on, multidisciplinary Junior Robotics Systems Engineer to serve as Technical Product Owner and Lead Systems Architect. Partnering directly with the founder, you will evaluate existing engineering assets, validate technical architecture, and drive product execution from late-stage prototyping to an investor-ready Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

The ideal candidate brings a strong bias for robust, pragmatic, and cost-effective engineering over purely theoretical approaches. You must thrive in an agile environment—actively unblocking hardware, firmware, and software integration bottlenecks.

Location: 

Mountain View, CA (Hybrid / Onsite; flexible hours available)

Compensation:

Up to $60 per hour depending on experience and domain expertise (with potential for startup equity or profit-sharing allocation)

Employment Type:

W2 Contract / Hybrid

Phased Scope of Work

Phase 1: Technical Audit & System Assessment (Initial Engagement)

Objective: Conduct a comprehensive technical audit of existing workstreams, eliminate engineering debt, and establish execution clarity.

Review: Evaluate current mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software efforts.

Define: Establish comprehensive MVP parameters, clearly delineating in-scope versus out-of-scope features.

Analyze: Conduct a thorough assessment of technical assumptions, interdependencies, and potential timeline or budgetary risks.

Deliver: Produce an executive summary featuring system diagnostics, asset inventory, and strategic recommendations for long-term project continuity.

Phase 2: Architectural Strategy & Roadmap Development

Refine: Conduct a critical review and iterative refinement of the Product Requirements Document (PRD).

Architect: Architect the target system, formalizing integration interfaces and implementing robust, safety-centric logic.

Plan: Create a high-level product development blueprint and an investor-ready technical road-map.

Strategy: Formulate the industrial design strategy alongside Design for Manufacturing (DFM) plans for low-volume production.

Phase 3: Ongoing Product Development & Management

Execute: Lead multi-disciplinary execution across mechanical, electrical, 

firmware, and software tracks (TBD based on Phase 1 & 2 outcomes).

Key Responsibilities

Audit Workstreams: Evaluate engineering output to separate viable solutions from technical debt.

Define MVP: Translate product vision into clear, lean hardware and software prototypes.

System Integration: Own end-to-end technical interfaces uniting mechanical assemblies, custom PCBs, and embedded compute platforms.

Set Technical Priorities: Drive unbiased decisions regarding component selection and software frameworks.

Optimize Budget: Produce realistic, lean execution plans that match start-up resource constraints.

Requirements & Qualifications

Experience:
Years of Experience: 1-3 years directly involved in multi-disciplinary robotics execution.

Life-cycle Ownership: 

Demonstrated experience taking a mobile electromechanical system from early prototype through EVT/DVT phases.

Target Background: 

Proven background developing autonomous mobile vehicles (AMVs) or mobile robotics platforms (e.g., Waymo, Tesla, Pony.ai, or Nuro ecosystem experience).

Scale: 

Familiarity with low-volume pilot builds (approx. 50–100 units) and creating investor-facing prototypes.

Technical & Engineering Skills:

Hardware & Mobility: Hands-on design of wheeled, load-bearing mobile platforms (drivetrain selection, motor sizing, braking, stability).

Control Systems: Experience with closed-loop motor control and stability tuning across varying terrain and payloads.

Localization & Tracking: Practical implementation of person-following behaviors using Ultra-Wideband (UWB), BLE, Visual SLAM, or hybrid sensors.

Perception & Safety: Integration of obstacle detection systems utilizing Lidar, Computer Vision, Time-of-Flight (ToF), ultrasonic, or vision sensors.

Embedded Software: Embedded C/C++ development on microcontroller-class hardware (e.g., ESP32, STM32, Raspberry Pi) using RTOS or bare-metal architecture.

Compute Platforms: Hands-on deployment experience using Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano and Raspberry Pi.

Software Ecosystem: Strong command of ROS2 (Robot Operating System 2) and Python for robotics applications.

Power & Ruggedization: Understanding of battery-powered systems (BMS, runtime estimation, thermals) and environmental ruggedization (IP ratings for dust and moisture).