About the RoleThis is a founding engineering role at a pre-seed robotics company building low-cost, teleoperated humanoid platforms that turn physical jobs into remote work. As the
Founding Robotics Engineer, you will own the end-to-end design and delivery of the robot - from hardware to software - and shape manufacturing and deployment strategy as the company scales. This is a rare opportunity to define the technical direction of a physical product from day one, with meaningful equity alongside a competitive salary.
What You'll Do- Architect and build a low-cost teleoperated humanoid robot designed to replace or augment on-site physical roles.
- Deliver the initial wheel-based robot for patient check-in in urgent care clinics - including self-charging and safe navigation - within a Bill of Materials (BOM) under $1,000.
- Solve the human-robot interaction challenge: craft an experience that achieves a patient preference win-rate above 50% compared to in-person staff.
- Deploy and maintain a fleet of 50 robots in clinical environments, targeting a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) exceeding 500 hours.
- Ship a contextual AI copilot that provides real-time guidance to remote operators, compressing new-hire training from weeks down to 24 hours - and laying the groundwork for a future physical reasoning model.
What We're Looking ForRequired- 3+ years of hands-on engineering experience with clear ownership of shipped projects.
- Mechatronics & Integration: proven experience building robots from scratch, integrating motors, sensors, actuators, and compute into cohesive, reliable systems.
- Embedded Software & AI: solid firmware development skills and experience deploying ML models on edge systems with real-time, low-latency constraints.
- Rapid Prototyping: expert-level proficiency in CAD, 3D printing, and quick-turn fabrication - from idea to physical prototype in days.
- Design for Manufacturing: designs with cost, assembly time, tolerances, material selection, and scalable production in mind.
- First-Principles Thinking & Radical Ownership: you question assumptions, invent novel solutions, and start solving problems without waiting for permission.
- Strong CS fundamentals supporting both the mechatronics and software sides of robot development.
Nice to Have- Fleet Management: experience deploying and maintaining robots in clinical or field environments with uptime targets (e.g., MTBF tracking).
- Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) intuition: instinct for what makes robots feel trustworthy vs. unsettling; understanding of the uncanny valley and how to design around it.
- Exposure to healthcare or clinical environments.
- Early-stage startup or founding engineer experience.
Compensation & Benefits- Salary: $120,000 - $140,000 USD annually
- Equity: meaningful founding equity stake (~1%)
- Visa sponsorship: available
LocationThis is an
on-site role based in
New York, NY. Candidates should be prepared to work in person as part of a small, fast-moving founding team.
