The Mission

The hardest problem in robotics isn’t building a compelling prototype; it’s making robotic systems deployable, repeatable, and economically viable in the real world. This is a new kind of role that combines the strengths of a Forward Deployed Engineer and a Applied Research Engineer. You will use direct "deployment pressure" to uncover missing capabilities, design evaluations, and turn one-off field learnings into reusable product and research improvements.

This is not a support or solutions engineering role. It is a deployment-native R&D role built for those who want to stay close to reality while building the abstractions that make the next deployment easier.

About the Organization

We are an Applied R&D lab building the full software and hardware stack for the humanoid century. Our products include an open-source humanoid robot platform and an integrated suite for embodied AI development. We are focused on turning AI agents into reliable, production-grade humanoid labor.

Key Responsibilities

• End-to-End Problem Solving: Own real customer and deployment problems, from understanding deep workflows to diagnosing complex failures in the field.

• Real-World Operations: Work directly with robotic systems in commercial and industrial environments where ambiguity and operational constraints are the norm.

• Research Translation: Translate deployment friction into core research questions—identifying missing capabilities, required data, and the specific evaluations needed to improve the stack.

• System Adaptation: Build and adapt systems across the full deployment loop, including data collection, task-specific fine-tuning, and evaluation design.

• Knowledge Scalability: Collaborate with core research teams to ensure field learnings become reusable capabilities rather than temporary fixes.

• Defining the Operating Model: Help define how humanoid systems are deployed, improved, and scaled globally.

Requirements

• Technical Depth: Deep expertise in at least one relevant domain: Perception, Navigation, Manipulation, or Teleoperation.

• Field Experience: Proven experience deploying AI, robotics, or embodied systems in real-world environments rather than just lab settings.

• Data Mastery: Experience collecting, cleaning, and curating deployment data specifically for model improvement.

• Evaluation Design: Ability to design benchmarks for systems that interact with complex, unpredictable real-world environments.

• Hybrid Mindset: Comfortable working outside your specialization when the deployment demands it.

• Communication: Capable of explaining complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Bonus Points

• Interdisciplinary Comfort: Ability to move seamlessly between software, research, operations, and user conversations.

• Trust Building: Evidence of building trust with users while maintaining a strong, authoritative technical point of view.

• Fast-Paced Growth: Prior experience in a forward-deployed or customer-facing technical role at a high-growth company.

Work Environment & Culture

• Seniority: This role requires 8+ years of practical experience for candidates focusing on performance and scalability.

• Language: Professional fluency in English is essential for collaborating with international stakeholders.

• Impact: You will have a front-row seat in a fast-moving AI startup, influencing the future of the humanoid century.