--- title: 'Operations Manager at RIVR' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/operations-manager-rivr-zurich-5y45pqfa44n8' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-19' --- # Operations Manager at RIVR - **Company:** RIVR - **Location:** Zurich, Switzerland - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-09-23 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-19 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/rivr/985bf226-ae0a-461d-96bd-845842f2fb5d ## Job description RIVR is a Swiss robotics company pioneering Physical AI and robotic solutions to revolutionize last-mile delivery, giving 1 human the power of 1000. Through the combination of artificial neural networks and innovative robot designs with wheels and legs, RIVR aims to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and scalability in last-mile delivery. Founded as Swiss-Mile, the company rebranded to RIVR in 2025 to better reflect its mission of driving the future of intelligent robotics. Join our innovative team, renowned for pioneering robotic design and neural network applications in robotics that improve environmental understanding and decision-making. With a robust research foundation and notable contributions from ETH Zurich, we are leaders in translating artificial intelligence and robotics into practical, real-world applications. RIVR is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team that values every perspective. If you’re passionate about driving innovation in robotics and creating meaningful impact, we encourage you to apply and bring your unique self to our team. As a Operations Manager, you will be tasked to oversee our RIVR’s daily operations at our Zurich site and ensure our business runs smoothly and efficiently. Our ideal candidate will be a strong project manager with excellent problem-solving skills, a background in autonomous logistics (ideally with a focus on the last mile problem), a deep understanding of business processes, and a commitment to driving continuous improvement. In terms of approach, we are looking for someone who wants to be hands on and work in a dynamic agile way to meet our ambitious goals for deployments and scaling. Finally, this role is crucial for optimizing our operational workflows, managing resources, and ensuring we meet our goals. ## What you’ll be doing - Operational Process Optimization: help to design, implement, and monitor operational processes and procedures to maximize efficiency, safety, quality and throughput. Identify and address bottlenecks and areas for improvement in our flows both in the field and remote operations. Supporting testing and release validation processes in partnership with cross-functional teams. Ensure operational and testing spaces are organized including hands on managing the fleet of robots onsite. - Logistics: coordinate flows of robots and spare parts across business sites, including coordination with external shipping providers. Also, coordinate with the logistics needs of the R&D team at the Zurich site and operational teams elsewhere. - Resource Allocation: manage and allocate the Zurich site’s operational resources, including personnel, shifts/schedules, equipment, and materials, to ensure projects are completed on time and within budget. - Data Analysis & Reporting: Collect and analyze operational data to create reports for other internal RIVR stakeholders, providing insights and recommendations for strategic decisions. - Safety & Compliance: Ensure all operational activities comply with company policies, industry regulations, and safety standards. ## What you must have - Operations Manager experience in the logistics field and or autonomous vehicles / fleet management (bonus points for experience in the last mile area). - Education: Bachelors Degree or higher. - Language: working proficiency in English. Get some bonus points - Experience with operations and autonomous vehicles, specifically in last mile deliveries. - Knowledge of basic German or further advanced. - Knowledge of Ticketing/Fleet Management/ERP Systems. ## About RIVR ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: RIVR builds autonomous wheeled-legged robots powered by Physical AI to automate doorstep delivery, from the street to the door. - **Entity Type**: Private (acquired by Amazon in March 2026; previously venture-backed with $29M total funding) - **Headquarters**: Zurich, Switzerland - **Founded**: 2023 (originally as Swiss-Mile, rebranded to RIVR) - **Founders**: Marko Bjelonic (CEO), Lorenz Wellhausen (CTO Software), Giorgio Valsecchi (CTO Hardware), Alexander Reske (COO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Robotics Engineering / Physical AI for last-mile delivery - **Target customers**: B2B – logistics providers, e‑commerce companies, grocery delivery services (e.g., Swiss Post, Migros Online) - **Mission**: “Pioneering Physical AI to revolutionize doorstep delivery” – combining neural networks with wheeled‑leg robots to master the last 100 yards of delivery. ## Products & Services - **RIVR ONE**: A wheeled‑legged delivery robot that climbs stairs, steps over curbs, opens gates, and carries multiple parcels/groceries securely. Equipped with cameras, LiDAR, and a robotic arm for dexterous manipulation. - **Physical AI Platform**: Reinforcement learning (simulated data + parallel GPU training) and supervised/imitation learning (real‑world data) that enable autonomous navigation and manipulation. A data flywheel collects teleoperation feedback to continuously improve autonomy. - **Global Operations Software**: Cloud infrastructure for fleet management, including 24/7 remote assistance and API integration for custom deployments. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (acquired by Amazon; prior valuation unknown) - **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – $29M (Seed round led by Bezos Expeditions and HSG, plus grants from Innosuisse) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Bezos Expeditions, HSG, Innosuisse; pilot partners include Swiss Post and Migros Online - **Growth Signals**: Acquired by Amazon in March 2026; already has customers requiring “tens of thousands of robots”; workforce of 48 employees with 12.2% monthly headcount growth; 19 active job postings as of mid‑2026 ## Competitive Advantages - **Wheeled‑leg design** offers 5× battery life and speed, and 10× coverage of traditional legged robots, while still climbing stairs and navigating uneven terrain. - **Data flywheel**: Each deployed robot generates real‑world data that feeds supervised and imitation learning, creating a self‑reinforcing improvement loop. RIVR claims it will generate more daily data than YouTube within four years. - **Full‑stack approach**: Proprietary learning algorithms, simulation environments, and hardware co‑design allow tight integration between AI and embodiment. - **Amazon backing**: Post‑acquisition, RIVR gains access to Amazon’s logistics network, resources, and scale, accelerating deployment. ## Strategic Focus - **General Physical AI**: RIVR’s long‑term vision is to build a general‑purpose Physical AI that can handle diverse real‑world tasks, using doorstep delivery as the initial catalyst. - **Scaling deployment**: Moving from pilot (Swiss Post/Migros) to mass production and global rollout, leveraging Amazon’s infrastructure. - **Talent acquisition**: Actively hiring senior AI engineers (reinforcement learning, imitation learning, VLA foundation models), hardware engineers, and robotics software specialists to grow the technical team. ## Why Work Here - **Cutting‑edge technology**: Work on Physical AI, reinforcement learning, and advanced robotics at the intersection of software and hardware. - **Zurich location**: Office and development lab in the heart of Zürich; relocation bonus offered. - **Compensation & perks**: Competitive, transparent salary; Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP); annual performance‑based bonus; five weeks of vacation. - **Team & culture**: Work alongside top engineers from ETH Zurich, Amazon, Meta, and leading robotics labs. Flat hierarchy with a strong technical focus. - **Remote/hybrid policy**: On‑site presence expected (all current job postings are “On‑site – Full”); the robotics lab requires physical presence. - **Growth opportunity**: Being part of an Amazon‑owned company provides stability and resources while still operating with a startup‑like engineering intensity. ## Sources 1. [rivr.ai/careers](https://www.rivr.ai/careers) 2. [rivr.ai/about-rivr](https://www.rivr.ai/about-rivr) 3. [linkedin.com/company/rivr-technologies](https://linkedin.com/company/rivr-technologies) 4. [jobs.lever.co/rivr](https://jobs.lever.co/rivr) 5. [rivr.ai/technology](https://www.rivr.ai/technology) ## Other roles at RIVR - [SLAM / Computer Vision Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/slam-computer-vision-intern-rivr-zurich-1qqvkkfmg6n7) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Robotics Wireless & Network Engineer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-wireless-network-engineer-intern-rivr-zurich-m7c7xt7ygtym) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Robotic Support Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/robotic-support-engineer-rivr-shanghai-v0ktp6pepps8) — Shanghai, China - [Field Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/field-technician-rivr-zurich-mxz9bqnfxkd1) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Senior Mechanical Engineer – Power Electronics Packaging](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-mechanical-engineer-power-electronics-packaging-rivr-zurich-gj6pw40dteg9) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Hardware integration Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-integration-engineer-rivr-shanghai-xz2anwhe3xkz) — Shanghai, China - [Senior Electronics Engineer – Functional Safety](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-electronics-engineer-functional-safety-rivr-zurich-6559gbs405j8) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Senior Electronics Engineer – Carrier Board](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-electronics-engineer-carrier-board-rivr-zurich-bfras8f1qsy6) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Tech Lead – Testing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/tech-lead-testing-engineer-rivr-zurich-gwq4arwcqpby) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Procurement Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/procurement-engineer-rivr-zurich-hxs2jrkes2hg) — Zurich, Switzerland