--- title: 'Robotics Validation Engineer at Robust.ai' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-validation-engineer-robust-ai-san-carlos-zh50qpx7dxkd' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-11' --- # Robotics Validation Engineer at Robust.ai - **Company:** Robust.ai - **Location:** San Carlos, CA - **Compensation:** $130k–$160k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-08-10 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/robust-ai/93915f3b-cf3a-4e24-85c5-07cb7b4392eb ## Job description About the Role: Robust AI is a fast-growing, early-stage startup founded in 2019 by an unsurpassed team of veterans in robotics, AI and business. We are a collaborative group with a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, seeking talented individuals who are just as excited about robotics and AI as we are! Help us redefine the very foundation of robotics and build robots that are smart, collaborative, robust, safe, flexible and genuinely autonomous. We're looking for a hands-on engineer to support the testing and validation of mobile robotic systems. This role focuses on executing and automating tests—both in simulation and on real robots—to verify system behavior under real-world constraints. You'll contribute to establishing robotic performance benchmarks and evaluating how navigation, perception, and control systems perform under varying conditions, and report and summarize findings that shape future development and ensure product quality. Responsibilities: - Design and maintain automated test pipelines for simulation and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing. - Collect and process log data to assess system behavior and reliability. - Support the manufacturing team to develop, implement, and maintain End-of-Line tests. - Develop and execute experiments—both in simulation and on physical robots—including failure case reproduction, performance benchmarking, and validation scenario authoring. - Execute test plans developed by engineering and product teams for system-level validation. - Assist in debugging issues encountered during testing across the autonomy stack (e.g. navigation, controls, perception). - Improve test observability through metrics, dashboards, and structured reporting. Required Qualifications: - Proficiency in Python or C++, especially for scripting and data analysis. - 1-2 years of experience in test automation or robotics or both! - Familiarity with Linux-based development and testing environments. - Strong communication skills and attention to detail, especially in technical writing and documentation. - Comfort with robotics experimentation and troubleshooting in resource-constrained and real-time systems. Nice to Haves: - Experience with ROS1 or ROS2, rviz, and associated developer tools. - Exposure to Docker and containerized workflows. - Familiarity with robotics simulators (e.g., Gazebo, Isaac Sim). - Exposure to cloud or CI tooling (e.g., GitLab runners, AWS, GCP) for experiment execution and test data storage. - Experience working with data aggregation and slicing, or tools like InfluxDB, Pandas, or Jupyter. What we offer: - Base pay dependent on your skills, qualifications and experience. - Stock options and huge potential for growth. - Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage. - Flexible vacation and sick leave practices. - Paid parental leave. Robust AI fosters a culture of belonging and a shared commitment to equality and equity. Having a diverse set of perspectives is key to ensuring AI and robotics serve the needs of all. ## About Robust.ai ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Robust.AI builds AI-powered collaborative mobile robots (Carter™) that work alongside people in dynamic warehouse environments to improve productivity and reduce errors. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series A – IV, total funding $42.5M–$45.25M per conflicting reports) - **Headquarters**: San Carlos, California, USA - **Founded**: 2019 - **Founders**: Anthony Jules (co-founder, former CEO, now Chief Innovation Officer) ## Core Business - Primary industry: Warehouse automation, robotics, logistics technology - Target customers: B2B – retail, e-commerce, and third-party logistics (3PL) operators - Mission: “Make robots work for people” – human-centric design, intelligent automation, and adaptable workflows. ## Products & Services - **[Carter™ Collaborative Mobile Robot](https://www.robust.ai/)**: A novel form of mobile robot designed for seamless collaboration with humans across picking, putaway, and value-added services. Easy to deploy with zero infrastructure changes, scalable, and offers rapid ROI via a no-CapEx, all-inclusive subscription model. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed - **Key Metric**: Annual revenue ~$2M (latest estimate); Total funding ~$42.5M (per Apollo.io) or $45.25M (per CB Insights) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Prime Movers Lab (lead, Series A), Playground Global (lead, Seed), Jazz Venture Partners (lead, Series A), APL Ventures, 15th Rock Ventures, Reimagined Ventures, Silicon Badia, and 18+ others - **Growth Signals**: 30.6% YoY headcount growth (52 employees), new CEO appointment (Marin Tchakarov, Aug 2026), and a new platform that “10X+ Carter’s value by turning robots into intelligence agents.” ## Competitive Advantages - **Human-centric design**: Robots are built to work alongside people, not replace them, driving higher adoption and employee satisfaction. - **Zero infrastructure change**: No retrofitting of warehouses required – rapid deployment and scalability. - **All-inclusive subscription model (no CapEx)**: Lowers financial barrier for customers. - **Strong IP**: 16 patents filed, covering perception, coordination, and embedded systems. ## Strategic Focus - Scaling commercial deployment of Carter™ and expanding into new warehouse workflows. - Launching a next-generation platform that transforms robots into “intelligence agents” – likely leveraging AI and real-time data. - Appointing a new CEO to accelerate go-to-market and capture whitespace left by legacy robotics companies. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Collaborative, fun, equitable workplace with a diverse team of backgrounds and perspectives. Emphasis on curiosity and tackling hard problems. - **Work policy**: On-site roles in San Carlos, CA (current open positions are all on-site/full-time). - **Benefits**: Competitive compensation, stock options, full medical/dental/vision, flexible vacation and sick leave, paid parental/family leave. - **Engineering culture**: Deep tech stack (Python, ROS, C++, Linux, Docker, PyTorch, CUDA, etc.) and cross-functional teams blending robotics, AI, and hardware. Talent sourced from top companies (Google, SRI, Stanford, etc.). - **Current open roles** (as of search date): Safety Systems Engineer, Senior Paralegal / Legal Operations Specialist. ## Sources 1. [robust.ai](https://www.robust.ai/) 2. [robust.ai/careers](https://www.robust.ai/careers) 3. [jobs.lever.co/robust-ai](https://jobs.lever.co/robust-ai) 4. [linkedin.com/company/robust-ai](https://www.linkedin.com/company/robust-ai) 5. [cbinsights.com/company/robust-ai](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/robust-ai) ## Other roles at Robust.ai - [Staff Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-mechanical-engineer-robust-ai-san-carlos-fc76n57b68yn) — San Carlos, CA - [Electrical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineer-robust-ai-san-carlos-zkrae7j63mnn) — San Carlos, CA - [Senior Manufacturing Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manufacturing-test-engineer-robust-ai-san-carlos-dn95x87f2f87) — San Carlos, CA - [Technical Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-robust-ai-san-carlos-fm8j7nx14qb8) — San Carlos, CA