Field Maintenance Manager

Slip Robotics is a B2B Robotics-as-a-Service company deploying autonomous loading and unloading robots - SlipBots and SlipLifts - at warehouse and fulfillment sites across North America. Our customers are some of the largest shippers and 3PLs in the industry, and we're scaling fast. We build the robots, we deploy them, and we keep them running.

The Field Maintenance Manager is accountable for the uptime, reliability, and technical health of the deployed robot fleet across all active customer sites. This role leads the field technician team that delivers maintenance and repair services directly at customer locations - and is the operational owner of fleet performance against defined service level commitments. Field technicians are embedded at customer facilities and represent the company in daily operations. The quality, responsiveness, and professionalism of this team directly determines customer satisfaction, contract retention, and the company's ability to expand. The Field Maintenance Manager is accountable for that standard.

Responsibilities:
1. Direct team

• Directly manage a geographically distributed team of on-site field technicians embedded at customer facilities
• Own technician hiring, onboarding, scheduling, and coverage planning - including contingency and surge coverage
• Establish clear, documented performance expectations and hold the team consistently accountable to them
• Develop technicians' technical competency, independent judgment, and professional conduct; these individuals represent the company at the customer site
• Conduct structured 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations; identify high performers and address underperformance promptly
• Maintain a forward-looking staffing plan aligned to the deployment pipeline; surface hiring needs with at least 30 days of lead time
• Ensure all technicians complete required safety certifications; track and manage renewal schedules
• Conduct regular safety briefings with the technician team and reinforce safe working practices as a non-negotiable standard

2. Cross-functional

• Serve as the Maintenance function's operational representative in cross-functional processes - contributing to ticket lifecycle design, logistics workflows, and escalation protocols
• Coordinate with Field Logistics on parts availability, spare inventory levels, and equipment transfers required to support repair execution at each site
• Escalate unresolved Tier 2/3 technical blockers to Field Engineering with complete diagnostic context, not raw symptoms
• Support Customer Support with escalations that require on-site intervention or rapid technician deployment; ensure resolution timelines are met
• Deliver consistent weekly status reporting to the Head of Service Delivery - site coverage, SLA performance, open risks, and staffing pipeline
• Surface patterns - recurring failure modes, training deficiencies, parts shortfalls - with recommendations, not only observations
• Investigate safety incidents or near-misses involving technicians or fleet equipment; document findings and implement corrective actions in coordination with relevant stakeholders

3. Fleet & customer

• Own fleet uptime and repair performance against the 72-hour SLA standard: from incident notification to confirmed resolution
• Drive relentless elimination of barriers to SLA achievement - parts availability, technician readiness, logistics, tooling, or customer cooperation
• Establish and manage site-specific SLA requirements where customer contracts define obligations beyond the standard benchmark
• Implement and maintain preventive maintenance schedules calibrated to site volume, equipment type, and operational hours
• Ensure all fleet assets are accurately tracked by status, location, and condition at all times; system records must reflect physical reality
• Monitor fleet health data to identify systemic failure trends; surface findings to Field Engineering for root cause analysis
• Manage parts usage responsibly; document any cross-site resource borrowing and ensure replenishment plans are in place
• Conduct regular site visits to assess technician performance, customer satisfaction, and on-site operational and safety conditions
• Ensure all field maintenance activities comply with applicable safety regulations, OSHA standards, and company policy; proactively identify and resolve site-level safety risks

Requirements

• 3-6+ years of experience managing field service operations, mobile service teams, or technical field teams in industries deploying hardware at customer sites (autonomous systems, robotics, industrial equipment, medical devices, automotive field service, or equivalent)
• Demonstrated experience leading a geographically distributed technician or field engineer team across multiple simultaneous customer sites
• Proven track record of owning service level commitments - uptime, response time, resolution time - and driving measurable improvement against them
• Strong diagnostic and problem-solving ability; approaches constraints with resourcefulness, not escalation dependency
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in scaling, pre-process environments; capable of building structure while delivering results in parallel
• Working knowledge of applicable safety regulations and best practices for autonomous or industrial equipment operating in active warehouse or logistics environments
• Proficiency with ticketing or field service management systems (Jira, Salesforce Field Service, ServiceMax, or equivalent)
• Clear, direct communication skills; able to hold a team accountable and communicate performance expectations without ambiguity
• Ability to travel up to 40% domestically; travel scope may expand as operations grow regionally or internationally
• Valid driver's license

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity in an early-stage robotics company
• Comprehensive benefits including health, dental, and vision
• Permissive time off policy

Slip Robotics is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate candidates on the merits of their experience and their fit for the role. We welcome applicants from every background.