---
title: 'Robotics Technician at Watney'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-technician-watney-san-francisco-a9smm1vdp9nt'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-05'
---

# Robotics Technician at Watney

- **Company:** Watney
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-05
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/watney/149fb389-48a6-4231-b33f-d3f1b6dd072a

## Job description

## OUR MISSION

Expand human ambition in the physical world.

Critical infrastructure is constrained by labor shortages, hazardous working conditions, and operational complexity. Watney builds and deploys autonomous robotic systems that increase the speed and capacity of buildout, starting with data centers.

## Role Description

As our Robot Technician, you'll be hands-on with cutting-edge autonomous systems from prototype to production deployment. This isn't traditional maintenance – you're a technical owner who will:

- Build, test, and optimize robots that run continuously
- Troubleshoot complex mechanical, electrical, and software issues in autonomous systems
- Develop diagnostic procedures and predictive maintenance protocols
- Configure and calibrate sensors, actuators, and control systems
- Support field deployments and remote debugging of systems worldwide
- Create assembly documentation and maintenance procedures as we scale
- Help iterate on hardware designs based on real-world performance data
- Interface with our software and hardware teams to improve robot behavior and reliability

## What You Bring

Essential:

- 2+ years hands-on experience with robotic systems, automation equipment, automotive, or similar
- Strong mechanical assembly and troubleshooting skills
- Electrical debugging capabilities (reading schematics, using multimeters/oscilloscopes)
- Experience with motors, sensors, and control systems
- Detail-oriented approach to documentation and testing
- Basic Linux skills - comfortable with CLI, SSH, log files, and system diagnostics

Bonus Points:

- Experience with EtherCAT lines, CAN bus, or industrial communication protocols
- Familiarity with autonomous systems and edge case handling
- CAD software proficiency (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, etc.)
- 3D printing and rapid prototyping experience
- Background in production scaling or manufacturing
- Experience with 24/7 reliability systems

What Sets You Apart

- You love taking things apart to understand how they work
- Comfortable working on bleeding-edge technology with ambiguous requirements
- Strong debugging instincts – you can isolate problems systematically
- Excited by the challenge of making robots work reliably at scale
- Pride in craftsmanship and building things that last

We’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive team. At Watney Robotics, we welcome people of all backgrounds and identities, and we make hiring decisions based on skills, experience, and potential. If you’re passionate about robotics but don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply!

CURIOUS TO LEARN MORE?

Follow us here on X https://x.com/watneyrobotics/ and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/watneyrobotics/about/

## About Watney

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Develops autonomous robotics systems to operate datacenter and supercomputing infrastructure, partnering with hyperscalers to accelerate compute scaling.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Ryan Gannon (Co-Founder), Sean Cheong (Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Robotics Engineering / Datacenter Infrastructure Automation
- **Target customers**: Hyperscale cloud providers and large-scale data center operators (Enterprise B2B)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Deploy an abundant, intelligent workforce” by enabling the growth of critical infrastructure through autonomous robots.

## Products & Services
- **Autonomous Datacenter Robotics Platform**: A fleet of autonomous robots designed for datacenter buildout and breakfix operations. The system handles physical tasks such as server installation, cable management, maintenance, and repair, reducing human labor and accelerating deployment timelines.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric** (Private): **$21.0M in total funding** (Seed round closed May 30, 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Conviction, Abstract, A* (A-star). Partners with the world’s largest hyperscalers (names not disclosed).
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew **183.3% year-over-year** to 11 employees (as of mid-2026)
  - Monthly headcount growth of **+6.2%**
  - Active job postings rose **+28.6% month-over-month** and **+350% quarter-over-quarter**
  - Currently hiring for 9 roles spanning engineering, operations, and strategy

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep domain focus**: Solely dedicated to datacenter and supercomputing infrastructure – a narrow, high-stakes vertical with massive scaling demand.
- **Elite founding team**: Includes former GSM for iPhone, former founding engineer at Worldcoin, and a builder of the world’s fastest EV racecar (ETH Zurich).
- **Early partnerships with hyperscalers**: Already working with the largest cloud providers, providing critical validation and a clear path to production.
- **Full-stack ownership**: Company is moving from prototype to production fleets, offering engineers end-to-end impact from hardware to software.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale from prototype to production fleets**: Transitioning from small-scale deployments to large autonomous fleets.
- **Deepen hyperscaler partnerships**: Expand contracts and joint development roadmaps with major cloud providers.
- **Grow engineering and operations teams**: Aggressively hiring across robotics, software, facilities management, and deployment strategy to support production scaling.

## Why Work Here
- **In-Office culture**: All roles are based in San Francisco (HQ); the company emphasizes in-person collaboration.
- **Ground-floor opportunity**: With outsized ownership and visibility, employees shape the “rollout playbook” for a category-defining robotics company.
- **Technical challenge**: Work on real systems that combine robotics, AI, hardware, and infrastructure at scale.
- **Notable peers**: Colleagues include alumni from Scale AI, Amazon Web Services, Tools for Humanity, Warburg Pincus, and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
- **Growth trajectory**: A very young company (founded 2024) with rapid hiring and clear product-market fit, ideal for early-stage career builders.

## Sources
1. [watneyrobotics.com](https://watneyrobotics.com/)
2. [linkedin.com/company/watneyrobotics](https://www.linkedin.com/company/watneyrobotics)
3. [builtin.com/company/watney-robotics-inc](https://builtin.com/company/watney-robotics-inc)
4. [startups.gallery/companies/watney](https://startups.gallery/companies/watney)

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