--- title: 'Technical Program Manager at Gravis Robotics' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-gravis-robotics-zurich-rv0154zc18v6' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Technical Program Manager at Gravis Robotics - **Company:** Gravis Robotics - **Location:** Zurich, Switzerland - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-08-17 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/gravisrobotics/74b717c3-92b0-42ac-89e4-bf9bc594b35e ## Job description Gravis Robotics is a high-growth Series A start-up backed by SoftBank, bringing Physical AI to the construction industry, turning heavy construction machines into autonomous robots. Gravis began as an ETH Zurich spin-out, and our unique combination of learning-based automation and augmented remote control lets one operator safely conduct a fleet of earthmoving machines in a gamified environment. Backed by deep robotics research and now deployed across multiple countries with leading construction and equipment partners, our team is rapidly growing to bring this technology to a trillion-dollar industry. Gravis builds the RACK, our manufacturer-agnostic hardware and software system that turns excavators and loaders into autonomous machines, alongside Slate, our platform for planning, perception, and machine intelligence. ## About the role You will own end-to-end program delivery for one or more key initiatives at Gravis. Technical Program Managers sit at the intersection of strategic, commercial and customer requirements, and engineering execution on squads that draw from our functional teams. We are looking for candidates with a background in technical program management, product management, or engineering management with solid experience structuring and delivering complex cross-team programs from planning through commercial delivery. ## What you will do Program ownership - Own end-to-end program planning and reporting for major initiatives spanning software releases, hardware integration, and field validation, tracking milestones, dependencies, and risks across distributed teams. - Translate high-level strategic, commercial and product goals into structured plans, roadmaps, and quarterly commitments in partnership with engineering leads. - Identify and resolve blockers before they hit the critical path. - Coordinate software release processes, including integration testing, regression validation, and staged rollouts to field deployments. Collaboration & reporting - Act as the operational interface with external partners: OEM integrators, construction contractors, and equipment rental providers, coordinating requirements and delivery schedules. - Lead cross-team alignment and program reviews, producing clear documentation (roadmaps, RACI matrices, status dashboards) for engineering, operations, and leadership. - Gather structured feedback from field deployments and translate it into actionable input for engineering teams. ## What we're looking for We recognise that excellent candidates come from diverse backgrounds with varied combinations of skills. If you meet most but not all of the core qualifications below, we encourage you to apply. Core qualifications - 5–10 years of experience in technical program management, product management or engineering program management, or a closely related role, with a track record of delivering complex, multi-team programs from planning through commercial delivery in a fast-paced, deep-tech environment. - Solid technical foundation as evidenced by technical degree(s) in engineering or related fields. - Hands-on experience with agile / iterative development methodologies and tools such as Jira or Linear. - Good working knowledge of software and hardware development practices, system architecture, and CI/CD or testing practices. - Comfortable navigating ambiguity, aggressive timelines, and cross-functional collaboration across engineering, field, and commercial stakeholders. - Willingness to travel as required by business projects. - High proficiency in English with the ability to read, write and present technical materials clearly and concisely. ## Nice to have - Experience with robotics or hardware product development cycles and embedded systems. - Exposure to safety-critical or field-deployed systems. - Experience coordinating programs across multiple countries or regulatory environments. - Prior experience at an early-stage hardware/software startup. This role is a great fit if… - You care about building things that directly impact the real world at scale and work reliably outside the lab, with imperfect data, real constraints, and genuine stakes. - You want to help build the program management function at Gravis from the ground up, establishing practices that scale as the company grows. - You thrive when bridging disciplines, moving fluidly between hardware, software, and field operations conversations in the same day. - You value a collaborative culture built on thoughtful design, creative problem-solving, mutual respect, and pragmatism. ## About Gravis Robotics ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Gravis Robotics retrofits earthmoving machines with plug-and-play autonomy to enable safer, more productive, and predictable construction sites. - **Entity Type**: Private – Series A-II - **Headquarters**: Zurich, Switzerland (also offices in Austin, Texas, USA and Oxford, UK) - **Founded**: 2022 - **Founders**: Ryan Luke Johns, Hanspeter Fässler, Simon Kerscher, Burak Çizmeci, Marco Hutter ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Automation Machinery Manufacturing / Construction Robotics - **Target customers**: B2B – heavy civil construction firms, earthwork contractors, and equipment rental companies - **Mission**: To turn any earthmoving machine into a robot, augmenting human crews with superhuman productivity, safety, and predictability. ## Products & Services - **[Gravis RACK]**: A hardware-and-software retrofit kit (sensors, control unit, intuitive touchscreen) that transforms standard excavators into autonomous or teleoperated machines. Includes features like terrain-aware excavation (30% throughput improvement), autonomous maneuvers, self-stabilization, and augmented vision. (Type: Hardware + SaaS) - **[Teleoperation Tools]**: Advanced remote control capabilities enabling operators to manage machines from outside the cab, reducing exposure to hazards. - **[Deployment & Integration]**: Full support for integrating the Gravis RACK onto existing fleet machines, with site‑setup and task management via a simple interface. ## Market Standing - **Valuation / Funding**: Total funding of **$227.58M** as of August 2026, including a recent **$200M Series A** led by SoftBank Investment Advisers (announced August 20, 2026). Prior rounds included a seed round led by IQ Capital and Zacua Ventures. *Note: Some earlier profiles list $23M total funding – this appears to be outdated data before the Series A.* - **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue not publicly disclosed; headcount of **57 employees** (51-200 range) with **+43.5% YoY growth**. - **Notable Investors / Partners**: SoftBank Group, Armada Investment Group, Sunna Ventures, Imad Ventures, IQ Capital, Zacua Ventures. Deployment partnerships include DEVELON Europe, AG für Baumaschinen Schmerikon, and KIBAG. - **Growth Signals**: Handed over first commercial autonomous excavator to KIBAG in April 2026; expanding from Zurich hub into Austin and Oxford; active jobsite deployments; Inc. Magazine feature on Series A. ## Competitive Advantages - **Deep tech moat**: Core technology spun out from ETH Zurich’s Robotic Systems Lab, with over a decade of research in legged and autonomous systems applied to heavy machinery. - **Plug‑and‑play retrofit**: Works on existing machine brands (e.g., Develon) without requiring OEM redesign, enabling rapid fleet conversion. - **Field‑proven reliability**: Operates in extreme, unstructured outdoor environments (dirt, mud, slopes) where other autonomous systems struggle. - **Full‑stack approach**: Integrates hardware (RACK), perception, planning, teleoperation, and fleet management into a single cohesive product. ## Strategic Focus - **Scale deployment**: Use the $200M Series A to accelerate production of the Gravis RACK, expand into new geographic markets (US, UK), and grow the engineering and field operations teams. - **Product roadmap**: Improve autonomy level (e.g., full excavation without human input), expand to other earthmoving machine types (dozers, loaders), and deepen machine learning for terrain modeling. - **Talent acquisition**: Aggressively hiring across autonomy, SLAM, systems engineering, field robotics, and infrastructure roles (8 open positions as of September 2026). ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Rated **4.6/5.0** on employer reviews (5 reviews) with strong scores in Work-Life Balance (4.3), Culture (4.5), and Career Growth (4.5). Described as a team of “great engineers, creative minds, and awesome people.” - **Work Policy**: Hybrid and on-site roles depending on location: Zurich (mostly on-site/hybrid), Austin (on-site), Oxford (hybrid). Internships are on-site in Zurich. - **Engineering culture**: Heavy emphasis on robotics, simulation, ML, and real‑world systems. Tech stack includes ROS, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Unreal Engine, SolidWorks, C++, Python, and more. Team includes alumni from ETH Zurich, NASA JPL, ANYbotics, and other top robotics groups. - **Perks**: Work on physical AI that has a tangible impact on global infrastructure; see your code move dirt on real construction sites; small, fast‑moving team with direct access to founders. ## Sources 1. [gravisrobotics.com](https://www.gravisrobotics.com/) 2. [jobs.lever.co/gravisrobotics](https://jobs.lever.co/gravisrobotics) 3. [linkedin.com/company/gravisrobotics](https://linkedin.com/company/gravisrobotics) 4. [cbinsights.com/company/gravis-robotics](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gravis-robotics) ## Other roles at Gravis Robotics - [Senior Embedded Linux Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-embedded-linux-engineer-gravis-robotics-zurich-b49gfv526hs9) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Network Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/network-systems-engineer-gravis-robotics-zurich-zf0n4yx71x7w) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Senior Platform Engineer - Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-platform-engineer-infrastructure-gravis-robotics-zurich-1g4nkg856mtv) — Zurich, Switzerland - [General Application Inquiry](https://feeny.ai/job/general-application-inquiry-gravis-robotics-zurich-zkm9ns5bj6na) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Field Robotics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/field-robotics-engineer-gravis-robotics-oxford-f885hvyejhtr) — Oxford - [Senior Reinforcement Learning Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-reinforcement-learning-engineer-gravis-robotics-zurich-dg38zww2vz24) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Field Robotics Engineer - US](https://feeny.ai/job/field-robotics-engineer-us-gravis-robotics-austin-t1m3yv52dsgj) — Austin, TX - [Robotics Software Engineer Internship - Autonomy](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-software-engineer-internship-autonomy-gravis-robotics-zurich-36wkbpdhr6cg) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Technical Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-physical-superintelligence-boston-y458ar5w9dx6) — Boston, MA - [Technical Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-woolpert-dayton-smx957kyq9e7) — Dayton, OH / -, United States