Tech Lead Manager, Collaborative Robots
Planning & Behavior
$215-245k
Plus equity
Office located in Santa Clara, CA
Robotics company
Open for applications
Robotics company
21-100 employees
Open for applications
$215-245k
Plus equity
Office located in Santa Clara, CA
21-100 employees
Company mission
To create a world where humans and robots collaborate in a trusted partnership.
Role
Who you are
- Do you love designing the intelligence that lets robots move safely and gracefully through the world?
- If you’re excited to push the boundaries of motion planning, behavior design, and intelligent autonomy, we’d love for you to join us
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field
- 5+ years of experience working within engineering teams
- Professional managerial experience
- Proficiency in C++ and Python, with a readiness to learn new languages or technologies
- Deep understanding of motion planning algorithms and trajectory generation under dynamic constraints
- Expertise in decision-making frameworks such as finite state machines, behavior trees, hierarchical task networks, or learning-based policies
- Experience with ROS2 or equivalent robotics middleware for distributed autonomy systems
- Familiarity with real-time systems, multi-threaded programming, and performance optimization for onboard computation
- Experience with simulation tools (Gazebo, CARLA, Isaac Sim, or Unity) and scenario-based testing of navigation and behavior
- Strong systems-level thinking — ability to design interfaces between perception, planning, control, and behavior layers
- Experience implementing production-grade, high-reliability software on a robot or similar autonomous system
- Willing to occasionally travel
- Must have and maintain US work authorization
- Highly motivated teammate with excellent oral and written communication skills
- Enjoy working in a fast paced, collaborative and dynamic start-up environment as part of a small team
- Ph.D. with 3+ years or Master’s with 5+ years of experience in robotics, motion planning, or autonomous systems
- 8+ years of experience working within engineering teams
- Strong proficiency in C++, with experience in production-quality code for real-time or safety-critical systems
- Experience with human robot interaction or socially aware navigation
- Solid understanding of dynamics, control interfaces, and motion feasibility constraints
- Experience with simulation tools and in realistic environments
What the job involves
- At Cobot, we’re building the autonomy foundation for the next generation of collaborative robots — and we’re looking for a Tech Lead Manager, Planning & Behavior to help us lead the way
- This is your chance to define how our robots think, plan, and act as they navigate complex, real-world environments
- In this role, you’ll lead the design and development of Cobot’s navigation and behavior stack — integrating perception, localization, mapping, and control into cohesive, intelligent motion
- You’ll architect planning and decision-making systems that handle real-world uncertainty, guide a team of talented autonomy engineers, and collaborate across disciplines to ensure every robot moves predictably, efficiently, and safely
- This is a unique opportunity to shape the navigation brain at the heart of our robots — where advanced algorithms meet real-world impact
- Lead the design and development of the robot’s navigation, planning, and behavior stack — from motion planning to high-level decision-making
- Architect robust autonomy systems that integrate perception, localization, mapping, and control into cohesive, real-world-capable behavior
- Drive the roadmap for navigation, trajectory planning, and behavioral decision layers, balancing near-term delivery with long-term technical vision
- Collaborate across disciplines — perception, controls, simulation, hardware, and UX — to ensure seamless integration and safe, predictable robot behavior
- Guide algorithmic development for path planning, behavior selection, and motion optimization under real-world constraints (uncertainty, dynamic obstacles, multi-agent interactions)
- Provide technical mentorship and guidance to autonomy engineers, fostering best practices in software design, testing, and reliability
- Review and refine technical requirements, translating them into clear design plans and execution strategies
Our take
Cobot is a robotics manufacturer setting out to incorporate robots into our everyday, having them work alongside us in all walks of life. It is building a collaborative robot named "Cobot", but so far remains mysterious by not disclosing any details as to what exactly it will be. It has, however, explained that its robotic systems will be neither humanoid or a mobile manipulator, instead focussing on the synergy between humans and robots - hence the titular nod to collaboration.
Collaborative robots are expected to account for about 10% of total industrial robot sales by 2025, so Cobot's target could certainly be a lucrative one. Founded in 2022, the company has already caught attention for its "Flywheel Program", that delivers hands-on experience with robotics deployments for its clients' teams.
The company is initially looking to target sectors such as bio-tech, logistics, healthcare and manufacturing and it’ll be exciting to see how this grows as the company scales. It’s still early days for Cobot, and though all the talk behind the project is thrilling, we will have to wait to see if the product lives up to both ambitions and its impressive funding rounds.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Apr 2024
$100m
SERIES B
Jul 2023
$30m
SERIES A
Total funding: $140m
Company HQ
Santa Clara, CA
Leadership
Brad Porter
(CEO & Founder)Previously CTO of Scale AI and worked for over a decade at Amazon through several roles, ultimately as VP and Distinguished Engineer of Robotics.
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