Robotics Application Engineer

Location Palo Alto Employment Type Full time Department Operations At Rhoda AI, we are building the full-stack foundation for the next generation of humanoid robots — from high-performance, software-defined hardware to the foundational models and video world models that control it. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real-world environments and handling scenarios unseen in training. We work at the intersection of large-scale learning, robotics, and systems, with a research team that includes researchers from Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and beyond. We’re not building a feature; we’re building a new computing platform for physical work — and with over $400M raised, we’re investing aggressively in R&D, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make that a reality. We’re looking for a mid-to-senior Application Engineer to translate real-world customer use cases into robust intelligent robot deployments. You will design, prototype, and refine grippers, end-of-arm tooling, work stations, and integration hardware — and develop efficient strategies for robot learning and data collection — working at the intersection of robotics, AI, hardware, and deployment operations. What You’ll Do Execute customer projects end-to-end — from scoping and solution design through onsite delivery, serving as the primary technical point of contact Design mechanical solutions including grippers, EOAT, fixtures, and work-cells; rapidly prototype and validate concepts before field deployment Drive AI model post‑training and deployment on robot hardware, developing training strategies and partnering with robot pilots and data ops to build robust policies Become a product expert — develop deep knowledge of the full stack and internal workflows to accelerate customer onboarding and inform the roadmap Continuously improve by identifying failure patterns, building reusable design standards, and contributing to shared documentation What We’re Looking For Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, or a related field 3–6 years of experience in mechanical design for robotics, automation, manufacturing, or industrial systems Strong CAD proficiency (SolidWorks, OnShape, or equivalent) Experience designing grippers, tooling, fixtures, or electromechanical assemblies Hands‑on prototyping experience (3D printing, machining, fabrication & assembly) Experience debugging robotic systems Familiarity with AI/ML concepts as applied to robotics (e.g., machine vision, imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or policy training) Ability to collaborate cross‑functionally in a fast‑paced environment Nice to Have (But Not Required) Experience working with robotic arms or humanoid systems Hands‑on experience with robot policy training, fine‑tuning, or deployment Experience integrating conveyors, AMRs, actuators, sensors, and other electromechanical devices Experience supporting real‑world deployments or field installations — scoping timelines, managing deliverables, and coordinating across teams Experience coordinating external contractors or vendors for fabrication or integration Why This Role Own the full customer journey — from first scoping call to live robot deployment — with direct visibility into how your solutions perform in the real world Work at the intersection of hardware design and AI, shaping how our robots learn and operate in production customer environments High ownership in a small team where your design decisions and deployment strategies directly influence the roadmap and scale of what we build next #J-18808-Ljbffr