Senior Field Robotics Engineer

Brain Corp is a San Diego, California, USA-based AI company creating transformative core technology for the robotics industry. Our purpose is to create autonomous technology that helps the real world work better. Brain’s robotic and AI solutions help retailers ensure that the right product is on the right shelf at the right price, in a clean environment. Through the BrainOS® Robotics Platform, which powers the largest global fleet of the Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) in operation in commercial public spaces, Brain Corp delivers insightful and efficient automated solutions in both commercial floor cleaning and inventory management, empowering organizations and their employees to achieve more. Brain Corp currently powers more than 30,000 AMRs, representing the largest fleet of its kind in the world. Brain Corp is funded by the SoftBank Vision Fund, Clearbridge, and Qualcomm Ventures.

Position Summary:

Brain Corp is seeking highly motivated individuals to join our SENSE team. At its heart, our SENSE product family leverages extra sensors to learn more about the environments in which BrainOS robots operate and provide additional insights to our customers. Our first application is being realized by BrainOS-powered robots with additional scanning sensors that capture and upload localized images of retail products to the cloud for inventory analytics.

In this role, you will be the engineering point of contact for customers evaluating our newest products with a broad spectrum of responsibilities. You will need to be an entrepreneurial, product-oriented software engineer as you balance the speed of development with future-proof and scalable solutions. You will need to be able to adapt and iterate with evolving customer needs as the complexity of new environments and situations are better understood and quantified. You will be working at the intersection and application of cutting edge technologies of cloud computing, autonomous navigation, human-robot-interaction, IoT and analytics as you incubate and iterate solutions to real customer problems.

Essential Job Functions:

• Development:
• Core Functionality – Contribute to the development of application, webapps, and cloud software layers of the scanning robot solution to deliver customer value.
• Tooling – Assist the engineering team in defining and developing tooling to minimize the cost of maintaining fleets of scanning robots.
• Component Evaluation – Assist the engineering team with evaluating new sensors for new applications based on specifications required for image analysis and/or environmental characteristics.
• Operations:
• Customer Facing Deployment. Deploy robots to new store environments, which includes coordinating with customer staff, surveying the store layout, annotating maps and validating correctness of scanner routes. Traveling to different customer locations is expected to be a requirement of this position.
• Performance Review. Maintain reliable data-collection operations, including troubleshooting as necessary and providing support to customer field staff. Lead sessions where the team can review navigation situations generated by shelf-scanning robots and identify common root causes and opportunities for improvement. Additionally, create and review dashboards and metrics for data accuracy and actionable insights.
• Process Improvement. Assist the engineering team in improving the processes to deploy and maintain robots that reliably collect data. Codify expertise by creating and maintaining detailed documentation to support the team.
• Robot Triage. Debug issues encountered in the store, e.g. issues with robot hardware, software, or the store environment.

Education And/or Work Experience Requirements:

• BS Degree in Computer Science, Electrical/SW/Controls Engineering, or discipline related to the robotics field
• 3 years of experience in related field

Required Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, And Other Characteristics:

• Working knowledge of Python or C++ in Linux Environment
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in a multiple internal and external stakeholder environment

Things That Make a Difference:

• Relevant industry experience
• Basic knowledge or expertise in 2 or more of the following focus areas and willingness to learn the others:
• Coding skills Python and C++ in Linux environment
• Designing and developing robotic systems using a robotic middleware (such as ROS), and existing libraries and tools
• Selection, application, and testing of sensors used for robotics such as LiDAR, ToF, Stereo, RGB Cameras, Ultrasonic, IMUs, etc…
• SLAM, navigation, motion planning, object recognition, and other autonomous mobile robotic specific algorithm development
• Experience producing computationally efficient software that can meet real-time requirements
• Demonstrated experience in problem solving and critical thinking to use software to solve real world problems
• Experience with continuous integration, deployment and release management tools
• Experience with Agile and Scrum methodology
• Understanding of various aspects of sensors like lidars, cameras, and IMU
• Experience working in a hands-on environment to develop robotic or automated equipment

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a Brain staff member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Essential functions may require maintaining the physical condition necessary for sitting, walking or standing for periods of time; operating a computer and keyboard; talk and hear at normal room levels; using hands to grasp, and feel; repetitive motion; close visual acuity to prepare and analyze data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; visual inspection involving small defects, small parts, and/or operation of machines; use of measurement devices; and/or assembly or fabrication parts at distances close to the eyes; lift, push, carry, or pull up to 50 pounds.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a Brain staff member encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. Staff are exposed to the typical office environment with computers, printers and telephones.

Employees are exposed to the typical office environment with computers, printers and telephones but also expected to travel to customer locations which include retail stores and warehouses. The installation, setup and testing of our product occur during business off-hours. Therefore, when traveling to customer sites the employee can expect to be working four- or five-hour shifts either late in the evening (9 p.m. to 2 a.m.) or early in the morning (3 to 8 a.m.). Domestic travel up to 20% throughout North America is required.

Salary Range:

The anticipated salary range for candidates who will work in San Diego, California is $116,000 to $136,000. The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and length of experience within the job, type and length of experience within the industry, education, etc. Brain Corp is a multi-state employer and this salary range may not reflect positions that work in other states.

In addition to base pay, our competitive total rewards package consists of:

• A discretionary annual target bonus
• Stock options
• 401(k) plan with match (no waiting period and immediate vesting)
• Comprehensive suite of insurance benefits for employees (and their families) to include a variety of medical plan options (including an HSA with employer contribution), dental, vision, life and disability insurance, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Legal/Identity support plans, pet insurance.
• Access to Flexible Spending Accounts (Medical and Dependent Care)
• Generous paid time off including flexible vacation, Paid Sick Leave, time off for volunteering in the community, 10 paid company holidays, and a winter company shutdown

Additional Perks Include:

• Daily on-site lunch available in the San Diego office
• On-campus gym including pool and tennis courts in the San Diego office
• Opportunities to connect with colleagues including monthly game nights, hikes, wellness challenges, and community events
• Internal continuous learning events
• Opportunities to share your own interests and hobbies with the Company