Systems Engineer, Robotics Hardware, Large Wheeled Platforms

Description

FieldAI ’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence. If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field.

Hardware Team:

The Hardware Team at FieldAI develops perception and compute payloads that power autonomous robotics systems in complex real world environments. Our work spans the full hardware stack — designing and integrating sensing systems (LiDAR, camera, TOF, IMU, GPS), embedded compute (CPUs, GPUs, microcontrollers, Linux, ROS), electrical systems (power distribution, communication), and mechanical components (structures, thermal regulation, ingress protection). The team focuses on both development (research, design, prototyping, testing) and operations (production, testing, QA, debugging). We're a small, fast-moving team, and we care deeply about improving: 1) core capabilities, 2) system reliability, 3) system scalability. As a growing team we are also building operational systems and procedures from the ground up.

Systems Engineer Role:

As a Systems Engineer for Large Wheeled Platforms on the Hardware Team at FieldAI, you will bring new large wheeled platforms into our fleet and ensure that they operate at high standards in real world environments. This will involve integrating our control systems, autonomy stack, and payloads onto new robotic platforms. Your work will span across areas including platform abstraction, robot control, autonomy, sim-to-real validation, and electro-mechanical integration.

Responsibilities may include the full lifecycle from initial platform bring-up through safety qualification and field deployment. You will collaborate closely with the Autonomy/RL, Manipulation, Mechanical, and Electrical teams to build tightly integrated solutions ready for deployment in challenging field environments. Additionally while your focus will be on platform integration, you may contribute across hardware, field operations, and autonomy domains.

What You Will Get To Do

Platform Integration & Controls

Platform Abstraction: Build software abstraction layers between each robot's native control stack (such as ROS/ROS2) and our own systems, enabling payloads to move across platforms.

Robot Controls & Navigation: Ensure navigation and controls stacks running correctly on physical hardware across quadruped, humanoid, and wheeled platforms.

Electro-Mechanical Integration: Work with mechanical and electrical engineers on designing and integrating mechanical (saddles) and electrical (power distributions boards) interfaces.

Sim-to-Real: Validate and adapt RL-based autonomy policies from simulation (Isaac, Gazebo, MuJoCo) to real-world performance on terrain, stairs, and uneven ground.

Cross-Team Collaboration & Fleet Scaling

Cross-Functional Integration: Coordinate across Autonomy/RL, Manipulation, Mechanical, and Electrical teams to bring new platforms online.

Testing & Validation: Use SIL/HIL testing to ensure integrated systems are safe, reliable, and ready for field operation. Test features such as safety features and operations under different Operational Design Domains (ODDs).

New Robots: Identify, procure, test, and integrate diverse new robotic systems.

Multi-Platform Support: Support multiple robot morphologies including legged, quadruped, biped/humanoid, and wheeled UGVs.

Safety & Infrastructure

Safety Systems: Implement e-stop and redundancy/fault-tolerant safety layers, contributing to functional safety (ISO 26262, ASIL) as practices mature.

Charging & Docking Infrastructure: Support charging station and docking infrastructure for charging, data offload, and communications.

Field Deployment Logistics: Handle the hands-on logistics of standing up new robot platforms for field deployment across construction, mining, and oil & gas environments.

What You Have

Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field.

Experience Level: We are looking to fill this role with someone with 1-5 years of experience.

Software: Hands-on experience with middleware (ROS/ROS2) and computing languages (python, C++).

Robotics Software Generalist: Strong generalist robotics software background spanning controls, navigation, and systems integration across legged and wheeled platforms.

Sim-to-Real Experience: Comfort working across the sim-to-real gap, validating RL or autonomy policies from simulation (Isaac, Gazebo, MuJoCo) on physical hardware.

Cross Functional Hardware Knowledge: Working familiarity with motors, actuation, BLDC motor controllers, and power distribution or electrical systems.

Communication Protocols: Familiarity with CAN bus, EtherCAT, or similar real-time robotics communication protocols.

Systems Thinking: Ability to work across mechanical, electrical, controls, and autonomy domains to make integrated systems function reliably on real hardware.

What Will Set You Apart

Multi-Platform Experience: Experience integrating software across multiple robot platforms, including legged/quadruped, humanoid, and wheeled UGVs (e.g., Unitree, Boston Dynamics, Clearpath).

Field Environments: Experience deploying robots in harsh, diverse industrial field environments such as construction, mining, and oil & gas.

Functional Safety: Background in functional safety standards (ISO 26262, ASIL, SOTIF/ISO 21448) and safety-critical systems testing and validation.

Advanced Controls: Experience with whole-body control, impedance/admittance control, MPC, or trajectory optimization for legged or manipulator systems.

Fleet & Infrastructure: Experience with multi-robot fleet operations, auto-docking/charging infrastructure, or teleoperation systems.

Our salary range is generous and we consider each individual’s background and experience when determining final compensation. Base pay may vary based on role scope, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and the Irvine, California market.

Benefits

• In Irvine, you will work where the robots are. Our local team builds and tests systems on real hardware with real sensors, then ships them to operate in unstructured, previously unknown environments around the world. We are solving one of robotics’ hardest challenges: reliable deployment outside the lab. Our Field Foundational Models raise the bar for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, with an emphasis on explainability and safety for real-world use.
• You will collaborate with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. We bring deep experience from organizations such as DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, along with a track record of field deployments and strong performance in DARPA challenge segments.
• Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution
• We are looking for builders who want their work to leave the whiteboard and show up on robots. If you enjoy tackling tough, uncharted questions and working across disciplines, you will find your people here. Our teams span AI, software, robotics engineering, product, field deployment, and technical communication, all focused on shipping systems that perform in the real world.
• Our headquarters is in Irvine, and we partner closely with teams there as well as colleagues across the US and around the world. Join us in Southern California and help define what dependable, field-ready autonomy looks like.
• We value diverse perspectives and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We evaluate candidates and employees based on merit, qualifications, and performance, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally protected status.