--- title: 'MBA Technical Strategy and Operations Intern at Atoms' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/mba-technical-strategy-and-operations-intern-atoms-san-francisco-52bm0tb0a0bw' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-15' --- # MBA Technical Strategy and Operations Intern at Atoms - **Company:** Atoms - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Posted:** 2026-10-05 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-15 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/cssmerge/jobs/8868466002 ## Job description ## Who we are Atoms is building the machines that power the next era of progress. Over the last decade, software has transformed the digital world. But the physical world, where food is made, minerals are mined, goods are moved, and industries are run, remains far less intelligent, far less efficient, and far more constrained. We’re changing that. Atoms builds Physical AI— real-world robots for the industries that move civilization forward, starting with food, mining, and transport. Our systems are designed to understand, predict, and control the real world with precision, turning complex physical operations into something more reliable, more scalable, and more productive. This work requires more than robotics. It requires deep integration across hardware, software, AI, operations, manufacturing, and real estate. We don’t just build machines in a lab. We deploy them into real environments, operate them, learn from them, and improve them until they work at scale. We are roboticists, engineers, operators, and builders. We believe the next great technology companies will not only transform information, but the physical systems that shape everyday life. If you want to work on hard problems with real-world impact, join us. ## About the role We are looking for a graduate student intern with a vehicle or mobility background to support technical strategy and operations for our vehicle engineering team. You will own a defined workstream within one of our programs: the plan, the milestones, the dependencies, the risks, and the weekly readout to engineering leadership. Depending on the workstream, you may also support issue tracking, manufacturing during vehicle builds, and analysis for engineering decisions. The role is hands-on. Expect regular time in the garage, and on the production floor with the engineers and technicians doing the work. ## What you’ll do - Own the plan for a defined workstream, such as a build, a bench, a supplier transition, a fleet readiness milestone, or a process rollout. Maintain milestones, dependencies, risks, and open actions. - Publish a weekly status readout to engineering leadership with progress, blockers, decisions needed, and a recommendation for each escalation. - Keep the issue record current. Prepare the weekly triage, chase owners for updates, and roll the results into the weekly readout. - Support vehicle builds as needed, including build readiness, parts and kitting status, work instructions, and issue capture on the floor while a build is in progress. - Pull the quotes, lead times, cost data, and fleet data the program needs, and build the comparisons the engineering owner uses to decide. - Work with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, fleet operations, and finance to move your workstream forward. - Identify what is slowing your workstream down, propose a fix, implement it, and measure the result. ## What we’re looking for - Current graduate student in an MBA, an engineering master's (mechanical, electrical, industrial, systems, automotive, or similar), or a related master's program such as engineering management, operations, or supply chain. - Prior background in vehicles or mobility, including automotive, EV, autonomous vehicles, commercial vehicles, fleet operations, mobility services, off-highway or heavy equipment. - Comfortable with technical material, including build plans, test reports, and BOMs. - Experience owning a deliverable through to completion against a schedule. - Comfortable in a garage and on a production floor. - Able to commit 15-20 hours per week during the academic term on a consistent schedule, with regular onsite days in San Francisco. ## Why join us At Atoms, you’ll work on one of the defining challenges of our time—bringing automation into the physical world to drive real, lasting impact. We exist to uncover valuable unknown truths and turn them into progress, which means constantly pushing beyond what’s known and building what doesn’t yet exist. The work is ambitious and often challenging, but it’s grounded in a shared sense of purpose and a team committed to seeing it through together. Our work only matters if it serves others, and we know that meaningful progress depends on the trust of the people we serve and the strength of our team—so we invest in both, creating an environment where you can do your best work and grow. What else you need to know This role is based in our San Francisco office location. As a company driven by innovation and continuous change, close collaboration is essential. We’re constantly reimagining our industry, creating new products, and refining our processes, and we do our best work together. That’s why all of our office-based teams work onsite, five days a week. The base starting rate for this role is $56.00 per hour. Actual compensation will be determined on an individual basis and may vary depending on experience, skills, and qualifications. Ready to join us as we serve those who serve others? #LI-Onsite ## About Atoms ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Atoms builds physical automation systems—robotics, AI, software, and infrastructure—for mining, transport, and food industries to automate the physical world. - **Entity Type**: Private (formerly City Storage Systems; rebranded from CloudKitchens/ProFood parent) - **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, United States - **Founded**: Rebranded as Atoms in March 2026; predecessor City Storage Systems founded earlier (~2018) - **Founders**: Travis Kalanick (CEO) ## Core Business - Primary industry: Physical AI, Robotics, Automation Machinery Manufacturing, Industrial Infrastructure - Target customers: Mining/quarry operators, transportation & logistics companies, food service brands and kitchens (B2B, heavy industrial) - Mission or purpose statement: “We build progress machines.” / “The constraint on human progress is our ability to automate the physical world.” ## Products & Services - **Atoms Mining**: Autonomous haulage systems for mines and quarries designed to improve productivity, safety, and efficiency in complex industrial environments. - **Atoms Transport**: Wheelbase for robots — autonomous delivery and logistics systems for moving goods. Includes the acquired Pronto AI technology (acquisition completed April 2026). - **Atoms Food (ProFood)**: Robotics for better food. Automated kitchen systems that deliver consistent, affordable meals at scale; kitchen infrastructure platforms (bringing orders, delivery, operations into one platform); food real estate; Lab37 (an operating system for food facilities); and a forthcoming “built” meals brand. - **Lab37**: The operating system/software layer that connects and orchestrates Atoms’ physical automation across domains. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total Funding – Not publicly disclosed; previously raised significant capital as City Storage Systems/CloudKitchens (estimated at over $1B in prior rounds); 414 employees on LinkedIn as of mid-2026 - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Travis Kalanick (founder/CEO, previously co-founded Uber); partners include mining/quarry operators, food brands (specific names not public) - **Growth Signals**: 414 employees (+13.2% monthly growth); operates in 24 countries; 26 active job postings (+160% monthly); recent acquisition of Pronto AI (April 2026); rebranding from City Storage Systems to Atoms (March 2026) signals strategic consolidation and pivot; hiring across robotics, AI, software, hardware, operations globally ## Competitive Advantages - **Cross-stack vertical integration**: Controls sensors, compute, software, manufacturing, operations, real estate, energy, and infrastructure — a rare “full-stack” approach to physical AI. - **Founder advantage**: Led by Travis Kalanick (Uber co-founder) who has deep experience scaling category-defining companies and attracting top engineering/operations talent. - **Real-world deployment**: Robots with “real jobs” — not lab demos — deployed in working mines, kitchens, and transport systems today. - **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on “cross-stack competence,” ownership, and solving problems “most companies won’t attempt.” - **Global footprint**: Presence in 24 countries allows rapid deployment and operations at scale. ## Strategic Focus - Consolidating formerly separate brands (CloudKitchens, ProFood, Pronto AI) under one unified “Atoms” identity to create a single physical AI platform - Expanding autonomous mining haulage into more quarries and mines globally - Scaling food automation from kitchen robotics to end-to-end food infrastructure (real estate, ordering, delivery, operations) - Growing AI, ML, and autonomy capabilities (hiring Senior Software Engineer - ML Infrastructure, Backend Infrastructure, Robotics Engineer) - International expansion with dedicated regional roles (APAC, LATAM, Europe) ## Why Work Here - **High ownership**: “Take ownership early, and contribute from day one” — interns and new hires work on live products, not side projects. - **Hard problems**: Solving physical-world automation challenges that most companies won’t attempt — mining, logistics, food production at scale. - **Compensation**: “Outsized rewards for outsized performance” — competitive compensation, healthcare, benefits, and PTO. - **Culture**: “Builders” and “hardcore engineers” who have scaled category-defining companies — a relentless, high-expectation environment focused on excellence. - **Work policy**: Mix of in-office roles (Mountain View, CA; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Austin, TX) and international locations (Vilnius, LTU; Makati, PH; Bogotá, COL; São Paulo, BRA). Remote/hybrid policy not explicitly stated but many roles list specific city locations. - **Tech stack**: Modern — Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, Kubernetes, Docker, PostgreSQL, Redis, GraphQL, gRPC, Bazel, Google Cloud, NVIDIA, dbt, Looker, Airflow. - **Team composition**: 25% of employees in technical roles (154 people); strong presence of HR, legal, finance, and operations supporting global scale; talent sourced from CloudKitchens, Amazon, Uber, Google, ProFood Properties, City Storage Systems. ## Sources 1. [atoms.co](https://atoms.co/) 2. [atoms.co/careers](https://atoms.co/careers) 3. [atoms.co/openroles](https://atoms.co/openroles) 4. [LinkedIn – Atoms](https://www.linkedin.com/company/atomsco) 5. [Greenhouse – Atoms Jobs](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/cssmerge) ## Other roles at Atoms - [Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-specialist-atoms-new-york-6c3rqpq0ezgz) — New York, NY - [Sales Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/sales-account-executive-atoms-riyadh-62t0199p11ng) — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - [Production Quality Inspector](https://feeny.ai/job/production-quality-inspector-atoms-san-francisco-9dgbeyzk1wg0) — San Francisco, CA - [People Business Partner - Product and Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/people-business-partner-product-and-engineering-atoms-san-francisco-rh3qn6bp0f9v) — San Francisco, CA - [Senior Human Resources Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-human-resources-manager-atoms-dallas-xcctxzcfrpsc) — Dallas, TX - [Production Supervisor - Compute Box Night Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/production-supervisor-compute-box-night-shift-atoms-san-francisco-5b6zkte4avfz) — San Francisco, CA - [Software Engineering Intern - 2027 Winter Term](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineering-intern-2027-winter-term-atoms-seattle-07fya0hteyya) — Seattle, WA - [Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-atoms-seoul-0gr6yk22qbsr) — Seoul, South Korea - [Senior Buyer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-buyer-atoms-san-francisco-4rfjk30sdg5w) — San Francisco, CA - [Plumbing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/plumbing-engineer-atoms-san-francisco-w9eyxgh738nf) — San Francisco, CA