---
title: 'Engineering Manager, Hardware Design at Path Robotics'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-manager-hardware-design-path-robotics-columbus-pfb1vk763cf6'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-04'
---

# Engineering Manager, Hardware Design at Path Robotics

- **Company:** Path Robotics
- **Location:** Columbus, OH
- **Posted:** 2026-10-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-04
- **Apply:** https://boards.greenhouse.io/pathrobotics/jobs/8925116002?gh_jid=8925116002

## Job description

Build the Path Forward

At Path Robotics, we’re building the future of embodied intelligence. Our AI-driven systems enable robots to adapt, learn, and perform in the real world closing the skilled labor gap and transforming industries. We go beyond traditional methods, combining perception, reasoning, and control to deliver field-ready AI that is risk-aware, reliable, and continuously improving through real-world use.

Big, hard problems are our everyday work, and our team of intelligent, humble, and driven people make the impossible possible together.

We're looking for an experienced Engineering Manager, Mechanical Engineering & Hardware Design to lead the design and development of mechanical systems supporting Path's next generation of robotic manipulation products as we expand into factory automation.

As part of our Sensing and Embodied Intelligence team, you'll lead a team of engineers responsible for sensing end-of-arm tooling, robotic hardware, and the physical interfaces connecting robots, sensors, tools, and workpieces.

This is a hands-on leadership role that combines deep mechanical engineering expertise with people management, technical strategy, and cross-functional execution. You'll help define engineering direction, develop high-performing teams, and deliver reliable, scalable hardware solutions from concept through deployment.

## What You’ll Do

- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of mechanical engineers, providing technical guidance, performance feedback, and career development.
- Own engineering priorities, resource planning, and execution of mechanical hardware development initiatives.
- Oversee the design and development of sensing end-of-arm tooling, robotic components, fixtures, and electromechanical systems.
- Drive the integration of cameras, 3D sensors, force/torque sensors, tactile sensors, and other sensing technologies into robotic hardware.
- Define mechanical and physical interfaces between robots, tools, sensors, fixtures, and workpieces.
- Lead technical design reviews and establish standards for reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, and system performance.
- Partner with ML, Robotics, Software, and Electrical Engineering teams to translate product and model training requirements into hardware solutions.
- Support the design of tasks, fixtures, and environments used to collect robotic manipulation training data.
- Oversee the full hardware development lifecycle, including requirements, prototyping, testing, validation, production release, and deployment.
- Work closely with vendors, suppliers, and internal manufacturing teams to accelerate hardware development.
- Drive root-cause analysis, continuous improvement, and resolution of technical challenges identified during testing and field deployment.
- Support hiring, team development, and the establishment of scalable engineering processes as Path grows.

## Who You Are

- Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 7+ years of experience in mechanical engineering, robotics, automation, or industrial hardware development.
- 2+ years of experience leading or managing engineering teams.
- Strong technical background in mechanical design, electromechanical systems, and robotic hardware development.
- Experience designing end-of-arm tooling, grippers, fixtures, or sensor-integrated robotic systems.
- Understanding of sensor integration, calibration, mechanical tolerances, and hardware reliability.
- Experience developing mechanical and electrical interfaces for complex robotic systems.
- Proficiency in SolidWorks or equivalent CAD software and PDM-based design workflows.
- Demonstrated success bringing complex hardware products from concept through production and deployment.
- Strong technical judgment, project management skills, and ability to balance competing engineering priorities.
- Passionate about developing engineers, solving complex technical challenges, and building high-performing teams.

## Nice to Have

- Experience with robotic manipulation, industrial automation, or advanced manufacturing.
- Familiarity with imitation learning, demonstration-based learning, or robotic data collection systems.
- Experience integrating force/torque, tactile, vision, or 3D sensing technologies.
- Knowledge of design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA), GD&T, and mechanical reliability testing.
- Experience scaling hardware products in a high-growth robotics or technology environment.

What Will Make You Successful at Path

- Technical Leader: You bring deep mechanical engineering expertise and sound technical judgment.
- People Developer: You enjoy mentoring engineers, building strong teams, and helping others grow.
- Hands-On: You're comfortable diving into design challenges and working alongside your team.
- Execution-Focused: You balance innovation with delivering reliable, production-ready hardware.
- Collaborative: You build strong partnerships across Mechanical, Electrical, Robotics, Software, and ML teams.
- Adaptable: You thrive in a fast-paced environment where technical challenges and priorities continuously evolve.

## Why You’ll Love Working Here

- Daily free lunch to keep you fueled and connected with the team
- Flexible PTO so you can take the time you need, when you need it
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
- 6 weeks fully paid parental leave, plus an additional 6–8 weeks for birthing parents (12–14 weeks total)
- 401(k) retirement plan through Empower
- Generous employee referral bonuses—help us grow our team!

## Who We Are

At Path Robotics we love coming to work to solve interesting and tough challenges but also because our ideas are welcomed and valued. We encourage unique thinking and are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process or any part of the hiring process, please contact HR@path-robotics.com. We are committed to providing equal access and will work with qualified individuals to ensure a fair and accessible hiring experience. We will respond to your request within 48 hours.

Regulatory and Compliance Requirements

This position may support work performed under U.S. Government contracts and requires compliance with applicable federal regulations, including FAR and DFARS where applicable.

The role may involve access to export-controlled information subject to ITAR and/or EAR.

Candidates must be able to comply with U.S. export control regulations, which may include meeting the definition of a “U.S. Person” where required.

This position may also involve handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and requires adherence to company and federal data protection and confidentiality standards. Employment may be contingent upon successful completion of a background check consistent with applicable requirements

## About Path Robotics

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Path Robotics builds physical AI systems that enable autonomous robotic welding for heavy industries, addressing the critical skilled labor shortage in manufacturing.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series D, $271M total funding)
- **Headquarters**: Columbus, Ohio, United States
- **Founded**: 2014
- **Founders**: Andy Lonsberry (CEO) and Alex Lonsberry (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Industrial robotics, AI-powered manufacturing automation, heavy fabrication
- **Target customers**: B2B, Enterprise — specifically heavy industry, defense, utility & energy, data center construction, and general manufacturing
- **Mission**: Create real value for customers while rebuilding the backbone of American industry by helping manufacturers navigate the skilled labor shortage.

## Products & Services
- **Intelligent Welding Cells**: Fixed robotic cells that use AI and computer vision to see, understand, and adapt to part variations in real-time, enabling autonomous welding without precision fixturing.
- **Obsidian™ AI**: A foundational AI model for welding, trained on tens of millions of welded inches, enabling real-time adaptation for high-quality welds across part-to-part variations.
- **JobBuilder**: A web-based software application launched at FABTECH 2024 that simplifies part programming, reducing the setup bottleneck and expanding the addressable market to fabricators without specialized robotics staff.
- **Path Foundry (RaaS)**: A Robotics-as-a-Service model where Path owns and operates the welding cells, charging customers for welding capacity with $0 CapEx, targeting a 30% lower cost and 4x productivity improvement.
- **Rove**: A mobile welding system mounted on a quadruped platform (announced April 2026), extending adaptive welding capabilities beyond fixed-cell applications.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: $271M total funding raised (Series D, last raised ~2 years ago)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly named in available sources; the company has a Board of Directors and leadership team including a Chief Revenue Officer (Heather Carroll) and EVP of Global Operations (Mike Renn).
- **Growth Signals**: 198 employees as of March 2026; launched Path Foundry RaaS model in October 2024; launched JobBuilder at FABTECH 2024; announced Rove mobile welding system in April 2026; serves 4 key industries (Defense, Data Centers, Utility & Energy, Heavy Industry); addresses a forecasted 600k welder shortage by 2030.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Perception-driven fit-up**: The core differentiator is the ability to recognize part geometry, compensate for dimensional variation, and execute a weld without precision fixturing — a capability traditional robotic welding lacks, which requires tight part consistency.
- **Obsidian™ foundational AI model**: A purpose-built, first-of-its-kind AI model for welding trained on tens of millions of welded inches, enabling continuous learning and real-time adaptation.
- **RaaS model (Path Foundry)**: Eliminates upfront CapEx for customers, lowering adoption barriers for mid-market fabricators who cannot justify six- or seven-figure capital commitments.
- **End-to-end autonomy**: The system handles pick, fit-up, and weld in a single automated flow, with 24/7 mission control support, targeting 4x productivity improvement.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the RaaS model**: Path Foundry is the primary go-to-market strategy, requiring the company to manage fleet maintenance, logistics, service-level guarantees, and asset utilization across a distributed installed base.
- **Expanding addressable geometry**: The Rove mobile platform announcement signals a push beyond fixed-cell applications into more varied and mobile welding environments.
- **Defense and critical infrastructure**: The company is actively targeting defense (shipyards, arsenals), data center construction, and utility/energy sectors as key growth verticals.
- **Reducing programming friction**: JobBuilder aims to lower the barrier to adoption for fabricators without specialized robotics staff, expanding the total addressable market.

## Why Work Here
- **Impactful mission**: The company directly addresses a critical national problem — a forecasted 600,000 welder shortage by 2030 — by building technology that keeps American manufacturing competitive.
- **Cutting-edge technology**: Work at the intersection of AI, machine learning, computer vision, and robotics, building a foundational AI model (Obsidian) trained on tens of millions of welded inches.
- **Collaborative culture**: The company emphasizes "People + Robots Together" and states that "Our people are our competitive advantage," with a focus on creating real customer value.
- **Growth trajectory**: With $271M in funding, 198 employees, and a pivot to a RaaS model, the company is in a high-growth phase with significant runway.
- **Leadership**: Founded and led by brothers Andy Lonsberry (CEO) and Alex Lonsberry (CTO), who have scaled the company from a university basement to a leading physical-AI company.
- **Work environment**: Based in Columbus, Ohio, with a focus on collaborative, passionate teams working on cutting-edge machine learning and impactful real-world problems. The careers page highlights "Impactful," "Collaborative," "AI-Powered," and "Cutting-edge machine learning" as core themes.

## Sources
1. [path-robotics.com](https://www.path-robotics.com/)
2. [path-robotics.com/careers](https://www.path-robotics.com/careers)
3. [path-robotics.com/about](https://www.path-robotics.com/about)
4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/path-robotics)
5. [robotics.press](https://robotics.press/news/path-robotics-company-profile/)

## Other roles at Path Robotics

- [Software Engineer, C++](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-c-path-robotics-columbus-s1x7t07459pc) — Columbus, OH
- [Machine Learning Engineer, Perception](https://feeny.ai/job/machine-learning-engineer-perception-path-robotics-columbus-hbj0gb5a91xs) — Columbus, OH
- [Manager, Enterprise Fleet Support](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-enterprise-fleet-support-path-robotics-columbus-z05e6cw5ftdx) — Columbus, OH
- [Manager, Robotic Operations Support](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-robotic-operations-support-path-robotics-columbus-y0694c3fed2h) — Columbus, OH
- [Global Supply Manager, Sensing](https://feeny.ai/job/global-supply-manager-sensing-path-robotics-columbus-yq941dkmch4x) — Columbus, OH
- [Global Supply Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/global-supply-manager-path-robotics-columbus-q7qhgbwdnhbb) — Columbus, OH
- [Materials Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/materials-program-manager-path-robotics-columbus-tbap2sxmj14n) — Columbus, OH
- [Production Scheduler](https://feeny.ai/job/production-scheduler-path-robotics-columbus-pkm7rkmm7rpx) — Columbus, OH
- [Warehouse and Logistics Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/warehouse-and-logistics-associate-path-robotics-columbus-pmt6b7swqz7m) — Columbus, OH
- [Production Lead (2nd shift)](https://feeny.ai/job/production-lead-2nd-shift-path-robotics-columbus-2kw24w8a8deg) — Columbus, OH