---
title: 'Welding Engineer - NAVSEA Specialist at Path Robotics'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/welding-engineer-navsea-specialist-path-robotics-los-angeles-cbdj2hzf6kj8'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Welding Engineer - NAVSEA Specialist at Path Robotics

- **Company:** Path Robotics
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-08-19
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://boards.greenhouse.io/pathrobotics/jobs/8731015002?gh_jid=8731015002

## Job description

Build the Path Forward

At Path Robotics, we’re building the future of embodied intelligence. Our AI-driven systems enable robots to adapt, learn, and perform in the real world—closing the skilled labor gap and transforming industries. We go beyond traditional methods, combining perception, reasoning, and control to deliver field-ready AI that is risk-aware, reliable, and continuously improving through real-world use.

Big, hard problems are our everyday work, and our team of intelligent, humble, and driven people makes the impossible possible together.

## The Role

We are looking for a Welding Engineer (NAVSEA Specialist) to join our team. In this specialized role, you will work side-by-side with a team of welding engineers and robotics experts to advance an autonomous robotic welding system capable of automatically generating custom motion plans and weld parameters.

You will lead welding engineering operations, process qualifications, and structural integrity assessments for our naval defense applications. Serving as a crucial technical bridge, you will ensure our cutting-edge AI systems operate in full compliance with strict naval defense and marine fabrication codes.

## What You’ll Do

NAVSEA & Defense Specialization

- NAVSEA Technical Liaison: Interpret, implement, and deploy NAVSEA Technical Publications S9074-AQ-GIB-010/248 and S9074-AR-GIB-010/278.

- Code Compliance & Auditing: Review engineering design packages to ensure flawless adherence to MIL-STD-1689, MIL-STD-22D, and AWS D1.1/D1.2.

- Procedure Optimization: Draft, review, and formally approve Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) and Procedure Qualification Records (PQR).

- Defect & Failure Analysis: Perform root-cause analysis for welding failures, reviewing non-destructive testing (NDT) data (RT, UT, MT, PT) to engineer corrective actions.

- Vendor & Supply Chain Audits: Conduct remote or targeted on-site technical evaluations of fabrication vendors to verify NAVSEA program compliance.

Robotic Systems & Autonomous Development

- Run weld parameter selection experiments to identify a range of welding parameters (voltage, wire speed, travel speed) that can be used for new customer applications.

- Partner with robotics engineers to develop a set of rules for moving the workpiece and robot end-effector to automate trajectory generation.

- Perform robotic welding experiments to test other systems in development, including sensors, inspection systems, path planning, welding strategies, and new hardware.

- Work with our hardware team to fabricate test coupons for application feasibility testing and other in-house experiments.

- Operate a state-of-the-art, AI-powered robotic welding cell.

- Manually weld coupons and other test parts when needed.

- Use powered shop tools to cut and etch weld samples.

Travel & Mobility

- 30%–50% Travel Required: Travel to shipyards, client sites, and the Path Robotics home office in Columbus, OH, interfacing and working directly with customers.

## Who You Are

- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Welding Engineering, Metallurgical/Materials Engineering, or a related core STEM discipline.

- Experience:

- 5+ years of welding engineering experience directly within defense maritime contracting, naval shipyards, or heavy marine fabrication.

- 3+ years of experience developing robotic welding procedures in an industrial environment.

- NAVSEA Expertise: Strong technical experience managing NAVSEA standard items, ship-spec manuals, and military standards.

- Certifications: AWS Certified Welding Engineer (CWEng) or Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) preferred.

- Security Clearance: U.S. Citizenship required; candidate must possess or be eligible to obtain a Department of Defense (DoD) Secret Security Clearance.

- Location & Mobility: Must be currently based in the Greater Los Angeles region or fully willing to relocate to the area utilizing the corporate relocation program.

- Technical Skills:

- Background in fusion-based weld parameter development for shipbuilding steel and aluminum alloys.

- Proficient with manual welding processes, with an emphasis on GMAW and FCAW.

- Experience working with industrial robotics for welding.

- Understanding of weld symbology and print interpretation.

- Experience with Design of Experiments (DoE) principles.

- Soft Skills: Passionate about what you do and enjoy working in a collaborative environment.

## Why You’ll Love Working Here

- Full Healthcare: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.

- Comprehensive Relocation Bonus Package: Support for your move to the Greater Los Angeles area.

- Daily Free Lunch: Keep fueled and connected with the team (when on-site at the Columbus home office).

- Flexible PTO: Take the time you need, when you need it.

- Paid Parental Leave: 6 weeks fully paid parental leave, plus an additional 6–8 weeks for birthing parents (12–14 weeks total).

- 401(k) Retirement Plan: Offered through Empower.

- Generous Employee Referral Bonuses: Help us grow our team!

## Who We Are

At Path Robotics, we love coming to work to solve interesting and tough challenges, but also because our ideas are welcomed and valued. We encourage unique thinking and are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process or any part of the hiring process, please contact HR@path-robotics.com. We are committed to providing equal access and will work with qualified individuals to ensure a fair and accessible hiring experience. We will respond to your request within 48 hours.

## About Path Robotics

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Path Robotics builds physical AI systems that enable autonomous robotic welding for heavy industries, addressing the critical skilled labor shortage in manufacturing.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series D, $271M total funding)
- **Headquarters**: Columbus, Ohio, United States
- **Founded**: 2014
- **Founders**: Andy Lonsberry (CEO) and Alex Lonsberry (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Industrial robotics, AI-powered manufacturing automation, heavy fabrication
- **Target customers**: B2B, Enterprise — specifically heavy industry, defense, utility & energy, data center construction, and general manufacturing
- **Mission**: Create real value for customers while rebuilding the backbone of American industry by helping manufacturers navigate the skilled labor shortage.

## Products & Services
- **Intelligent Welding Cells**: Fixed robotic cells that use AI and computer vision to see, understand, and adapt to part variations in real-time, enabling autonomous welding without precision fixturing.
- **Obsidian™ AI**: A foundational AI model for welding, trained on tens of millions of welded inches, enabling real-time adaptation for high-quality welds across part-to-part variations.
- **JobBuilder**: A web-based software application launched at FABTECH 2024 that simplifies part programming, reducing the setup bottleneck and expanding the addressable market to fabricators without specialized robotics staff.
- **Path Foundry (RaaS)**: A Robotics-as-a-Service model where Path owns and operates the welding cells, charging customers for welding capacity with $0 CapEx, targeting a 30% lower cost and 4x productivity improvement.
- **Rove**: A mobile welding system mounted on a quadruped platform (announced April 2026), extending adaptive welding capabilities beyond fixed-cell applications.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: $271M total funding raised (Series D, last raised ~2 years ago)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly named in available sources; the company has a Board of Directors and leadership team including a Chief Revenue Officer (Heather Carroll) and EVP of Global Operations (Mike Renn).
- **Growth Signals**: 198 employees as of March 2026; launched Path Foundry RaaS model in October 2024; launched JobBuilder at FABTECH 2024; announced Rove mobile welding system in April 2026; serves 4 key industries (Defense, Data Centers, Utility & Energy, Heavy Industry); addresses a forecasted 600k welder shortage by 2030.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Perception-driven fit-up**: The core differentiator is the ability to recognize part geometry, compensate for dimensional variation, and execute a weld without precision fixturing — a capability traditional robotic welding lacks, which requires tight part consistency.
- **Obsidian™ foundational AI model**: A purpose-built, first-of-its-kind AI model for welding trained on tens of millions of welded inches, enabling continuous learning and real-time adaptation.
- **RaaS model (Path Foundry)**: Eliminates upfront CapEx for customers, lowering adoption barriers for mid-market fabricators who cannot justify six- or seven-figure capital commitments.
- **End-to-end autonomy**: The system handles pick, fit-up, and weld in a single automated flow, with 24/7 mission control support, targeting 4x productivity improvement.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the RaaS model**: Path Foundry is the primary go-to-market strategy, requiring the company to manage fleet maintenance, logistics, service-level guarantees, and asset utilization across a distributed installed base.
- **Expanding addressable geometry**: The Rove mobile platform announcement signals a push beyond fixed-cell applications into more varied and mobile welding environments.
- **Defense and critical infrastructure**: The company is actively targeting defense (shipyards, arsenals), data center construction, and utility/energy sectors as key growth verticals.
- **Reducing programming friction**: JobBuilder aims to lower the barrier to adoption for fabricators without specialized robotics staff, expanding the total addressable market.

## Why Work Here
- **Impactful mission**: The company directly addresses a critical national problem — a forecasted 600,000 welder shortage by 2030 — by building technology that keeps American manufacturing competitive.
- **Cutting-edge technology**: Work at the intersection of AI, machine learning, computer vision, and robotics, building a foundational AI model (Obsidian) trained on tens of millions of welded inches.
- **Collaborative culture**: The company emphasizes "People + Robots Together" and states that "Our people are our competitive advantage," with a focus on creating real customer value.
- **Growth trajectory**: With $271M in funding, 198 employees, and a pivot to a RaaS model, the company is in a high-growth phase with significant runway.
- **Leadership**: Founded and led by brothers Andy Lonsberry (CEO) and Alex Lonsberry (CTO), who have scaled the company from a university basement to a leading physical-AI company.
- **Work environment**: Based in Columbus, Ohio, with a focus on collaborative, passionate teams working on cutting-edge machine learning and impactful real-world problems. The careers page highlights "Impactful," "Collaborative," "AI-Powered," and "Cutting-edge machine learning" as core themes.

## Sources
1. [path-robotics.com](https://www.path-robotics.com/)
2. [path-robotics.com/careers](https://www.path-robotics.com/careers)
3. [path-robotics.com/about](https://www.path-robotics.com/about)
4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/path-robotics)
5. [robotics.press](https://robotics.press/news/path-robotics-company-profile/)

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