Staff Robotics and Automation Engineer

Staff Robotics and Automation Engineer

Confidential client. Search led by VoltForce.

Location: San Leandro, CA (on-site)

Job Type: Full-time

About the Company

VoltForce is working with an early-stage materials-inspection company on the search for a Staff Robotics and Automation Engineer. Our client helps manufacturers make better, safer, and more reliable micro- and nano-scale materials, the building blocks of critical sectors like energy storage, semiconductors, aerospace, and power systems. As demand surges and production grows more complex and faster, small undetected variations during manufacturing lead to waste, lower performance, higher cost, and safety risk, leaving manufacturers with little visibility into the quality of what they produce.

The company's platform changes that. It non-destructively probes materials during production, pairing a novel sensing approach with physics-informed machine learning to capture real-time signals that conventional measurement techniques cannot access. Those signals give manufacturers rare visibility into how materials behave as they are made.

The company turns that hidden data into actionable intelligence, helping manufacturers reduce variability and increase yield and performance. The platform can run as a standalone tool or integrate directly into production lines, and it is already in early deployment with leading global manufacturers.

Role Overview

Our client is seeking a Staff Robotics and Automation Engineer to own the robotics and automation integration of its robot-based material measurement platform, a system that combines a novel non-destructive sensing approach, robotic scanning, and software to inspect customer parts without damaging them. This hands-on individual contributor role requires 5-10 years of experience programming industrial robot arms and collaborative robots, including CAD-to-path workflows and industrial deployment. You will provide technical leadership from development and validation through commissioning and ongoing support.

A strong secondary skillset in mechanical design and engineering is essential. You will contribute directly to end-of-arm tooling, fixtures, sensor mounting, and workcell design to deliver safe, accurate, and repeatable measurements. Working with mechanical, electrical, systems, software, and applications engineers, you will drive platform integration and resolve issues across subsystem interfaces. Controls engineering experience is a plus.

What You'll Do

· Own robotics and automation integration for the measurement platform across development, commissioning, validation, deployment, and support; define system architecture, requirements, interfaces, and acceptance criteria, lead technical design reviews, and guide engineering priorities.

· Program and maintain industrial robot arms and cobots, including the FANUC CRX platform, for homing, warm-up, positioning, raster scanning, continuous scanning, and safe recovery from faults.

· Develop CAD-to-path workflows that convert part geometry into executable scan trajectories; control tool orientation, surface coverage, stand-off distance, speed, and acceleration, and validate reachability and collision clearance.

· Develop and validate sensor-based path correction to maintain the required tip-to-surface distance and measurement consistency over varying part geometries.

· Integrate robot controllers with the company's PC software through robot APIs and Ethernet communication; implement commands, motion handshakes, heartbeats, position and status reporting, fault handling, and data synchronization.

· Develop, test, and maintain robot programs and integration software using version control, documented interfaces, repeatable configurations, and controlled releases.

· Use offline programming and simulation tools to validate trajectories, identify collisions and singularities, and reduce commissioning time before testing on hardware.

· Establish calibration and verification procedures for tool center points, robot and workpiece coordinate frames, alignment, and scan accuracy; investigate drift and repeatability issues using measured data.

· Design and improve end-of-arm tooling, fixtures, sensor mounts, and related mechanical assemblies with the mechanical engineering team; evaluate tolerances, stiffness, payload, cable routing, workcell layout, access, and serviceability.

· Lead robotics safety risk assessments with the engineering team and validate protective measures, emergency stops, interlocks, safe operating modes, and responses to communication loss or critical faults.

· Plan and execute integration, reliability, factory acceptance, and site acceptance testing; troubleshoot motion, software, communication, and mechanical issues and document corrective actions.

· Coordinate automation contractors and vendors, review their programs and deliverables, and retain internal ownership of source code, configurations, technical documentation, and system knowledge.

· Support customer installation and commissioning, train operators and engineers, and maintain operating, calibration, maintenance, and troubleshooting procedures for deployed systems.

What We're Looking For

· 5-10 years of hands-on experience programming and deploying industrial robot arms and collaborative robots in industrial or manufacturing environments.

· A strong secondary skillset in mechanical design and engineering, demonstrated through hands-on design of robotic tooling, fixtures, or automation equipment. Proficiency with a 3D CAD tool and practical understanding of tolerances, material selection, fabrication, and assembly are required.

· Demonstrated technical leadership and ownership of robotic system architecture and integration from requirements through commissioning and acceptance testing; ability to guide design decisions and mentor engineers as a Staff-level individual contributor.

· Strong robot programming skills and practical knowledge of kinematics, coordinate transformations, tool center points, motion planning, calibration, collision avoidance, and singularities.

· Practical experience generating robot paths from CAD geometry, including surface-following trajectories, tool orientation, offline programming, and validation on physical hardware.

· Experience developing robot integration software and working with controller APIs, Ethernet communication, I/O handshakes, position feedback, error handling, and PC-based control.

· Hands-on experience with industrial robot and cobot safety, including risk assessment, emergency stops, interlocks, protective measures, and validation of fault responses.

· Ability to diagnose problems across robot motion, mechanical hardware, sensors, electrical interfaces, and software, supported by clear test plans and measured results.

· Clear technical documentation and communication skills, with the ability to organize priorities, coordinate contractors, and work independently within a multidisciplinary team.

Nice to Have

· Controls engineering experience with PLCs, motion control, industrial networks, safety controllers, or closed-loop control.

· Direct experience with FANUC CRX robots, FANUC APIs and development tools, ROBOGUIDE, and RoboDK.

· Experience with robotic inspection or metrology, machine vision, distance sensors, or adaptive path correction.

· Experience bringing prototype automation systems into production and supporting equipment at customer sites.

It's ok if you don't check all the boxes. We hire for the capacity and the drive to learn and grow. If there is something you haven't done, but you are capable, please apply!

VoltForce does not work on a Corp-to-Corp (C2C) basis.