DeepRec.ai · 3 weeks ago
Principal Physical Systems Architect
San Francisco Bay Area
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/Staff
$250K/yr - $350K/yr
10+ years expDeepRec.ai is a company focused on integrating robotics and AI into manufacturing processes. They are seeking a deeply technical engineer who can bridge the gap between robotics, AI, and manufacturing, ensuring that complex physical systems are built and scaled effectively in real industrial environments.
Staffing & Recruiting
Hiring Manager
Anthony Kelly
Responsibilities
Serve as a principal architect for physical systems spanning:
Robotics and automation
Sensors, actuators, electronics, and embedded controllers
Firmware, real-time systems, and controls
Manufacturing processes, tooling, and test infrastructure
Be the person who can reason end-to-end, from firmware timing constraints to factory yield curves
Partner closely with autonomy and AI teams to ensure:
ML/RL/VLM-based systems respect real-time, safety, and physical constraints
Data collection, simulation, and evaluation reflect manufacturing and field realities
Translate autonomy and learning requirements into buildable hardware and process decisions
Bring hands-on experience in serious manufacturing or esoteric physical environments, such as:
Semiconductor tools or factory systems
Precision optics, lasers, plasma, vacuum, or metrology
High-throughput robotic automation or complex production lines
Identify failure modes related to tolerances, drift, wear, contamination, calibration, and process variability
Be deeply involved in:
Design and architecture reviews
Prototype bring-up and system integration
Failure analysis, root-cause investigations, and corrective actions
Set the technical bar through credibility and experience, not hierarchy
Mentor engineers across hardware, robotics, and autonomy on how systems behave at scale
Help the team internalize what will and will not scale, long before it becomes a problem
Establish norms around engineering rigor, test discipline, and physical intuition
Qualification
Required
10–15+ years building complex physical systems that integrate hardware, software, and automation
Demonstrated experience in industry-scale manufacturing environments or deeply technical physical processes
Strong understanding of embedded systems, firmware, and real-time control
Working fluency with robotics autonomy concepts, including perception, planning, and learning-based systems
Track record of taking systems from prototype → pilot → scaled deployment
Preferred
Built or scaled semiconductor tools, factory automation, or advanced manufacturing equipment
Worked on robotic systems deployed in production, not just lab demos
Known for being able to debug problems that cross firmware, hardware, robotics, and process boundaries
Comfortable challenging AI/ML assumptions when they conflict with physical or manufacturing reality
Experience with digital twins, HIL, or sim-to-real tied to real manufacturing data
Exposure to ML/RL/VLMs in embodied or physical systems contexts
Patents or technical contributions grounded in real machines or processes
Company
DeepRec.ai
We are your Deep Tech recruitment specialists, driven by a mission to power progress in the world’s most exciting industries.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageLeadership Team
Hayley Killengrey
Co-Founder and Managing Director USA
Company data provided by crunchbase