---
title: 'Sr. Robotics Field Engineer at Third Wave Automation'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sr-robotics-field-engineer-third-wave-automation-union-city-3jpkkm00xs7h'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-15'
---

# Sr. Robotics Field Engineer at Third Wave Automation

- **Company:** Third Wave Automation
- **Location:** Union City, CA
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-09-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-15
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/thirdwaveautomation/jobs/7990651003

## Job description

Company Description

Third Wave Automation is a rapidly growing startup that has demonstrated its core technology components, proven its market fit, and just closed its Series C funding. If you are excited about cutting edge machine learning, robotics that affects the real world, and want to join a company where your skills can have a huge impact, you’ll fit right in.

Third Wave Automation is applying modern machine learning to materials handling—delivering site-specific forklift navigation and infrastructure-free pallet handling that continuously adapts to changing floor configuration and warehouse demand.

Job Description

Third Wave Automation is looking for a Sr. Field Engineer. Our Robotics Deployment Operations team is responsible for the setup, integration, and maintenance of our autonomous forklifts at customer sites. The team works directly with customers at every stage of the process, serves as a first point of customer contact during deployment through product support, and works closely with the offsite TWA engineering team to ensure customer success. This role includes 50-70% travel.

## How You Can Make an Impact

- Own the site as technical lead with the Field Engineering Manager: plan, risks, and the go / no-go call when the system is not ready for operations.
- Lead and coordinate the setup, integration, and maintenance of our autonomous forklifts at customer sites.
- Report on fleet adoption and utilization issues and metrics, including deployment progress, and effectively escalate technical risks by working closely with the Third Wave Customer Success, Product, and Engineering teams to improve product reliability and performance.
- Debug the on-site stack from first principles — Linux, networking, services, logs/telemetry, and integrations — and leave a root-cause write-up engineering can act on, not a workaround that fails when you leave.
- Do your own on-robot hardware work when that is the fastest path: hand tools, parts replacement, retrofits, and field upgrades.
- Manage and maintain the site system configuration while also providing improvements for future system configurations.
- Interface and integrate with the customer warehouse management system (WMS).
- Be the face of the company to our customers.
- Work directly with the customer, serving as a first point of contact during product deployment through Go Live.
- Be a subject matter expert on how our system is deployed and operated.
- Engage with pertinent internal stakeholders to ensure clear and comprehensive training on operating the TWA fleet and best practices are provided to the customer.
- Turn what you learn on site into the system of record: implementation playbooks, optimization notes, and best practices other engineers can run without calling you.
- Support on-site product testing and provide detailed feedback.
- Write tools and scripts that remove repetitive setup and debug work, and use LLMs and coding assistants to triage logs, draft diagnostics, and generate first-pass fixes.
- Weekends and odd hours may be required.

## Qualifications

- Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Robotics, Engineering, Computer Science or related technical field.
- 6+ years of field experience coordinating with customers, being well-versed in various robotics expertise including hardware, software, and network.
- Outstanding customer relationship management skills.
- Understanding and experience with change management processes.
- Industrial automation experience. Experience working with and repairing industrial machinery.
- Linux experience (command-line tools, networking, administration).
- Programming experience (Python, C++) preferred.
- Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills.
- Experience with standard office productivity tools (Google suite, Slack, etc.).
- Ability to write tools and scripts to automate repetitive tasks.
- Experience working in a full-scale warehouse environment.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain forklift certification (company-provided training and certification available).

Physical Requirements

- Bending & Stooping: Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist.
- Climbing: Ascending or descending ladders, scaffolding, ramps, poles, and other devices using feet and legs and/or hands and arms. Body agility is emphasized.
- Crawling: Moving about on hands and knees or hands and feet.
- Moderate Carrying: Physically transporting items weighing 15 to 44 pounds.
- Hearing: Ability to hear enough to be able to detect specific noises, proper equipment operation; understand what employees/clients are saying in normal conversation.
- Kneeling: Bending legs at knees to come to rest on one or both knees.
- Moderate Lifting: Raising objects 15-44 pounds.
- Mobility Requirement: Be able to move throughout the warehouse facilities.
- Sitting: Particularly for sustained periods of time.
- Standing: Particularly for sustained periods of time.
- Visual Requirement: Be able to see and read PC screens; detect color coding, read fine print, and/or normal type size print.
- Walking: Moving about on foot, particularly for long distances.

The pay range for this position is $125,000 - $165,000/yr+ benefits+equity; however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.  Base pay information is based on market location.

More About Working Here

Our Core Values:

- Safety. We consider safety in everything we do.
- People. We care about our teammates as people.
- Encouragement. We encourage teaching, asking questions, and sharing opinions.
- Transparency. We are transparent and sincere in our actions.

A robust set of benefits and perks:

- Comprehensive benefits. Health, Dental, Vision, and a 401k matching program, to boot!
- Flexible working schedule. Be productive when you work best.
- Show & Tell. We love to learn from one another, and see the cool stuff everyone is working on!
- Meals are covered. Lunch is provided every day, and dinner for those evenings that run long.
- Stacks of snacks. Donuts are a main food group, and the snack shelf is always stocked with a wide variety of items.
- Great teammates. One of the best parts of working here!

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We value each person's expertise and experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

All qualified applicants able to work in the United States are encouraged to apply. We are unable to sponsor H-1 visas subject to fees required by the ‘Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers’ Presidential Proclamation dated September 21, 2025.

## About Third Wave Automation

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Third Wave Automation provides an intelligent, autonomous warehouse automation platform combining a hybrid fleet of autonomous forklifts with a fleet management system and remote operation capabilities.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C)
- **Headquarters**: Union City, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2018
- **Founders**: Arshan Poursohi (CEO) and Julian Mason

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Warehouse Automation, Robotics, Physical AI
- **Target customers**: B2B, focusing on warehouse, distribution, and manufacturing operations of all sizes (SMB to Enterprise), particularly those with existing forklift fleets.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: To alleviate increasing supply chain stress using intelligent physical AI products and services that bring people and automated systems together to improve throughput, efficiency, and safety.

## Products & Services
- **Shared Autonomy Platform**: The core technology—a software-defined system that combines autonomous forklifts, intelligent fleet management, and remote operation/assistance. It is designed to improve over time through continuous learning.
- **ArmadaFMS (Fleet Management System)**: The software platform for operators to manage the entire forklift fleet, execute and monitor workflows, respond to system requests, and configure warehouse zones dynamically.
- **TWA Reach**: A fully autonomous reach truck that can be deployed on-site within weeks without requiring additional infrastructure changes.
- **Remote Exception Handling & Remote Operation**: Allows a single operator to manage up to 10 forklifts, intervening only when the autonomous system encounters an issue, which it learns from over time.
- **Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS)**: A pay-as-you-go subscription model with a fixed monthly fee, requiring no large capital outlay and offering flexible terms.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$97M** across 4 rounds (Seed, Series A, B, C).
    - Series C (Oct 2024): $27M led by Woven Capital (Toyota's growth fund).
    - Series B (Aug 2021): $40M led by Norwest Venture Partners.
    - Series A (Jun 2020): $15M led by Innovation Endeavors.
    - Seed (Jun 2018): Led by Eclipse.
    - Venture Round (Feb 2023): $15M led by Zebra Technologies and Qualcomm Ventures.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Woven Capital (Toyota), Norwest Venture Partners, Innovation Endeavors, Eclipse, Zebra Technologies, Qualcomm Ventures, and The Raymond Corporation (technology partnership).
- **Growth Signals**: 
    - Annual revenue estimated at **$3.5M** (LinkedIn data).
    - Headcount of **33 employees**, with a -10.6% yearly growth but a +2.4% monthly growth, and **5 active job postings** (monthly posting growth of +66.7%).
    - Claims a **2-week go-live time** and full deployment in 1-4 months.
    - Reports **100% inventory accuracy**, **zero safety incidents**, and **zero racking damage** across thousands of operating hours.
    - Presence in Japan.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Shared Autonomy**: The unique hybrid model where a single remote operator manages a fleet of autonomous forklifts, intervening only for exceptions. The system continuously learns from these interventions, improving its autonomy over time.
- **No Infrastructure Upgrades**: The system is software-defined and requires no changes to existing warehouse racks, floors, or infrastructure, enabling rapid deployment.
- **RaaS Model**: Lowers the barrier to entry for automation by avoiding large capital expenditures (CapEx) with a predictable monthly subscription fee.
- **Safety-First Design**: Designed to comply with ANSI/ITSDF B56.5 and ISO 3691-4 standards, with a proven track record of zero injuries.
- **Single Source Provider**: Provides the entire stack—hardware, software, and support—as one integrated solution.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling Deployment**: Moving from pilot programs to rapid, large-scale deployments with a focus on a payback period of under 12 months for customers.
- **Continuous Improvement**: The core differentiator is a system that gets smarter with every shift, improving efficiency, safety, and accuracy over time.
- **Partnerships**: Deepening ties with key partners like The Raymond Corporation and Toyota (via Woven Capital) to expand market reach and integrate with existing material handling ecosystems.
- **Global Expansion**: Establishing a presence in Japan, a key market for automotive and logistics automation.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Rated **4.1/5.0 on LinkedIn** (11 reviews) with a Culture score of **4.7/5.0**. Employees describe the culture as inclusive, supportive, and driven by innovation, with cross-functional collaboration and weekly demos.
- **Work Model**: Flexible work hours and partial remote work options. The HQ is in Union City, CA.
- **Benefits**:
    - Comprehensive health, dental, vision, life insurance, FSA/HSA, telemedicine, and mental health support (Spring Health, EAP).
    - 401(k) with up to a 4% company match.
    - **$4,000 annual professional development budget** for training, courses, and certifications.
    - Daily lunches, snacks, and dinner for late workers.
    - Flexible vacation with no accrual, plus paid holidays and a company-wide break.
- **Engineering Focus**: High concentration of technical talent (33% of staff) with talent sourced from Toyota Research Institute, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and top robotics companies. Open roles include Senior Perception, Robotics, and SRE engineers.
- **Impact**: Opportunity to work on a physical AI product that directly improves warehouse safety and efficiency, with a clear mission and real-world impact.

## Sources
1. [thirdwave.ai](https://thirdwave.ai/)
2. [thirdwave.ai/about-us](https://thirdwave.ai/about-us)
3. [thirdwave.ai/join-our-team](https://thirdwave.ai/join-our-team)
4. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/thirdwaveautomation)
5. [Greenhouse Careers Page](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/thirdwaveautomation)

## Other roles at Third Wave Automation

- [Staff Safety Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-safety-engineer-third-wave-automation-union-city-7wnngt4v3k44) — Union City, CA
- [Senior Software Engineer - Robotics](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-robotics-third-wave-automation-union-city-ks0d539dphbe) — Union City, CA
- [Staff Technical Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-technical-product-manager-third-wave-automation-union-city-y3kdgj2azrky) — Union City, CA
- [Sr. Data Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-data-engineer-third-wave-automation-union-city-182sw5btxtzn) — Union City, CA