About the Role
As VP of Engineering, you'll own the engineering execution for our platform that orchestrates it. This is a senior leadership role for a builder who can set technical direction, hire and develop a world-class team, and stay hands-on where it matters.
You'll lead a multidisciplinary org spanning robotics/automation, embedded & controls, cloud/platform software, and applied AI/ML. Our work lives in the real world: sensors, actuators, safety, uptime, cost-down, throughput, and quality--paired with software that turns manufacturing into a programmable, learning system.
This is a full-time, California-based role with in-person collaboration expected in our Mountain View office.
We care less about pedigree and more about high agency, first-principles thinking, and a willingness to learn fast. You should be the kind of leader who ships, unblocks, and continuously upgrades your own workflow with modern AI tooling.
What You'll Do
- Own the engineering roadmap and execution for Gen 3 hardware + the platform that runs it.
- Build and lead a high-performing team across robotics, controls, firmware/embedded, cloud software, and AI/ML.
- Set architecture and technical standards: reliability, safety, testability, observability, and maintainability.
- Drive system integration from end to end: mechanical/electrical interfaces, firmware, services, UI, data pipelines.
- Partner closely with Product to translate customer needs into clear priorities, milestones, and shipped releases.
- Establish engineering operating cadence: planning, reviews, incident postmortems, retros, and continuous improvement.
- Design for manufacturability and deployment at scale: cost-down, serviceability, calibration, QA gates, and runbooks.
- Build the feedback loop: instrumentation + data systems that let the platform learn and improve over time.
- Own hiring and team design: org structure, leveling, interviewing, onboarding, and culture.
- Jump into complex technical problems when needed and lead by example.
What We're Looking For
- 8+ years of engineering experience with 3+ years leading teams (manager-of-managers experience is a plus).
- Demonstrated ability to ship complex, cross-disciplinary systems (hardware + software preferred).
- Strong technical judgment across at least two of: robotics/automation, controls, embedded/firmware, cloud/platform, AI/ML.
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity: you can define the plan, make tradeoffs, and move fast without perfect information.
- High agency and ownership mindset - you don't wait to be told what to do.
- Systems thinker who understands interfaces, failure modes, testing strategy, and lifecycle management.
- Hands-on leadership style; capable of reviewing designs/code and mentoring engineers deeply.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- AI-native working style - actively leveraging modern AI tools to accelerate engineering output and quality.
- Nice-to-haves: factory automation, industrial controls, distributed systems, manufacturing environments.
What We Offer
- Competitive compensation with equity.
- High ownership and autonomy in a fast-moving environment.
- Opportunity to build foundational technology that reshapes global manufacturing.
- In-person collaboration with a small, ambitious team building real-world systems.