Medra · 1 year ago
Forward Deployed Robotics Engineer
San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Mid LevelMedra is a company focused on using AI, robotics, and biology to accelerate life science research with the goal of eradicating disease. They are seeking a Forward Deployed Robotics Engineer to operate like a technical co-founder, owning the delivery of customer projects and developing robotic solutions to meet scientific challenges.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)BioinformaticsSoftware
Responsibilities
Operate like the technical co-founder of a small startup within Medra, owning end-to-end delivery of high-impact customer projects
Work with partner scientists at customer labs to quickly bring them solutions that meet their needs and get projects over the finish line
Set technical strategy and define the roadmap to meet customers’ most critical scientific challenges
Travel to the customer sites 30% of the time for hands on support and troubleshooting
Clearly communicate project progress with the team and quickly request assistance when necessary
Develop robotic solutions to manipulate and control biology tools designed for humans
Integrate, test, and debug software solutions in simulation and on physical robots
Besides your focus on robustness and performance, you’ll be expected to identify opportunities for simplification, and to design for scalability
Take ownership of complex robotics projects from conception to delivery, demonstrating strategic judgment, technical creativity, and hands-on execution
Qualification
Required
Proven ability to think strategically, solve complex problems creatively, and communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders, including scientists and senior executives
Experience writing code for robotics systems
Strong mechanical intuition and hardware debugging and assembly skills
Experience with mechanical engineering tools and best practices in production
A willingness to split your time between hardware and software work
A hacker's mindset - getting quickly to a good-enough solution
Experience with Python and a desire to improve your software skills
Experience or familiarity with robot arm manipulators
A willingness to wear many hats / a flexible attitude towards responsibilities and scope
Entrepreneurial drive and a desire to have broad ownership, operating with significant autonomy akin to a startup CTO
BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent experience
This position is in-person, **you must be able to come on-site to our San Francisco office**. We do not offer hybrid roles
Preferred
Experience with software engineering tools and best practices in production
Experience in startup environments, technical leadership roles, or demonstrated interest in entrepreneurship and strategic technical roles
Experience with robotics in a laboratory or manufacturing environment
Experience with robotic simulation systems such as MuJoCo
Experience designing, building, and testing hardware
Understanding of software communication protocols (ZMQ, Redis, gRPC, etc…)
Contribution to software for a hardware product that shipped
Relevant research/work experience in *one or more* of the following areas: machine learning, computer vision, motion planning and trajectory optimization, kinematics and dynamics, control, and state estimation/SLAM
Benefits
401k
Medical insurance
Dental Insurance
Relocation benefits
Unlimited PTO
Weekday dinners
Company
Medra
We're building Physical AI for the lab to unlock scientific breakthroughs
Founded in 2021
11-50 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Medra has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2023 (3)
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageTotal Funding
$63MKey Investors
Human CapitalPharmStars
2025-12-11Series A· $52M
2025-09-11Pre Seed· $11M
2023-12-05Non Equity Assistance
Leadership Team
Michelle Lee
CEO
Recent News
alleywatch.com
2025-12-16
2025-12-11
2025-09-12
Company data provided by crunchbase