Forward Deployed Engineer - Robotics

Job Description

Job Description

Career Renew is recruiting for one of its clients a Forward Deployed Engineer - Robotics - this is an onsite position in San Francisco. Salary range: 160-200K USD base plus benefits plus equity.

We are building the operating system for general-purpose robotics — the foundational software layer that sits between robot hardware and AI models, enabling robots to perceive, reason, learn, and act across diverse real-world environments.

Think of us as what Windows was to the personal computer . Before Windows, computers ran on fragmented DOS-based interfaces that weren't built for people to build on or use. We are doing the same for robotics: creating a unified, developer-first platform that enables software engineers, roboticists, and hobbyists to deploy and operate robots without stitching together 10 fragmented open-source tools.

The platform provides a modular, composable architecture for training and deploying robotic intelligence at scale. By abstracting hardware differences and standardizing core capabilities — perception, spatial understanding, navigation, decision-making, and control — we allow developers and partners to build, transfer, and operate robotic skills efficiently across platforms and embodiments.

Key highlights:

• $30M raised — making us one of the best-capitalized software robotics startups in the space

• Open source — the entire platform is available on GitHub, attracting a mission-driven engineering community

• Hardware distribution partnerships — we are the distributor for two of the largest robotics hardware OEMs in the world, giving them unique go-to-market leverage

• Second-time founder — CEO previously dropped out of MIT and co-founded Mock Industries, now valued at $1.8B after raising $500M

• Early and lean — ~10 people in the SF office, almost entirely engineers and the founder. Product-focused, flat structure, high ownership

We're looking for a Forward-Deployed Engineer to work directly at the intersection of customers, software, and physical robotic systems. This role is about closing the last 10%: taking cutting-edge robotics software and making it work reliably in real-world environments. You'll partner closely with end users to understand their workflows, deploy systems in the wild, and translate real-world constraints into product and engineering improvements.

Tech stack

Python, Rust, ROS, TypeScript

Requirements:

2 - 4 years of experience in full-stack (back-end leaning) software engineering, robotics engineering or FDE with an engineering foundation (Mandatory)

Experience in an early or growth-stage startup OR Big Tech with demonstrated robotics interest (Mandatory)

Owned end-to-end customer deployments/integrations of complex technical systems in production environments (Mandatory)

Navigates unfamiliar Python codebase, find issues and ship back-end code (Mandatory)

Genuine interest or experience in robotics or physical automation (hardware deployment a plus) (Mandatory)

Other Archetypes: ex-founder or technical solutions engineer with robotics/hardware experience (Nice-to-have)

Python proficiency (Mandatory)

Rust and Typescript (Optional)

Exposure to robotics middleware, ROS, or physical systems integration (Optional)

Translates ambiguous customer reqs into defined technical specs and deploys/integrates into stack (Mandatory)

Willingness to travel domestic 10-25% to client sites (Mandatory)