Field Robotics Engineer (SF Bay Area w/ Travel)

Department: Engineering

Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Compensation: $135K – $175K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

Compound Eye enables machines to understand their surroundings in 3D and in real time using only passive sensors like cameras and IMUs. Our VIDAS™ technology takes video from automotive-grade cameras and outputs a dense, semantic 3D representation of the world that vehicles and robots can use to navigate their environment. VIDAS is a fully redundant alternative to LiDAR and radar. Compound Eye has customers in automotive, agriculture, healthcare, and defense and is backed by Khosla Ventures and other leading investors.

We’re looking for an all-round engineer who loves to build, test, and adapt real hardware. You are someone who thrives where mechanical, electrical, and software systems meet the real world. This is a position for an inventive engineer who can prototype new ideas, get their hands dirty in the field, and work directly with customers to understand their needs. You’ll help us turn Compound Eye's autonomy technology into practical, deployable solutions for ground vehicles and drones.

Responsibilities:

Prototyping & Integration

• Design and fabricate components such as sensor mounts, gimbals, and housings (using CAD, 3D printing, or light machining) to integrate cameras, GNSS/RTK, IMUs, and compute modules into autonomous platforms.

Field Testing & Experimentation

• Prepare and execute vehicle and drone test campaigns; operate and troubleshoot systems in the field.

• Log sensor and telemetry data to evaluate system performance.

• Maintain test vehicles, drones, and hardware setups to ensure reliability and repeatability.

Customer Interaction & Adaptation

• Design and execute demonstrations for potential customers, partners, and investors.

• Work directly with customers, partners, and pilot users to understand operational needs, constraints, and success criteria.

• Translate those needs into engineering requirements and prototype modifications.

• Support field demos and integration efforts, providing clear feedback between customers and the core engineering team.

Documentation & Collaboration

• Create clear build notes, wiring diagrams, test reports, and user documentation.

• Collaborate across mechanical, software, and autonomy teams to accelerate iteration cycles.

• Direct and supervise contractors and service providers to help with all of the above.

To thrive in this role you have:

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in electrical, mechanical, robotics, or systems engineering.

• 3+ years of professional hands-on technical work in robotics, hardware, or automation.

• Proven hands-on ability with CAD design, 3D printing, soldering, wiring, and prototyping.

• Experience with sensors such as cameras, GPS/GNSS, and IMUs.

• Working knowledge of Python and C++.

• Excellent communication skills and a genuine interest in working with customers to solve real-world problems.

• Comfort operating in outdoor and field environments.

While not required, it would help to have: 

• Experience flying or operating drones and autonomous vehicles.

• Exposure to computer vision, SLAM, and sensor fusion techniques.

• Previous customer-facing experience (support, demos, field trials, or engineering sales).

Travel & Work Environment

• Expect regular travel for demos, customer engagements, and test events (up to 40%)

• Must be comfortable working outdoors or in varied environments (fields, warehouses, customer sites)

• Some weekend or off-hours work may be required during test campaigns or customer events

• Hybrid role in the Bay Area. Working out of Redwood City & Petaluma a couple days per week

Compensation & Benefits
Base salary: $135,000 to $175,000, depending on experience.

• Strong Incentive Stock Options (ISO)

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Annual home office stipend

• Employer-paid long-term disability, short-term disability, and life insurance

• 401(k) with employer match after 6 months

• Flexible PTO and 8 holidays + 2 week winter break

• Paid family leave

• Quarterly onsites in San Francisco

We're looking for a great engineer to join our US team of twenty. Our mission is to teach machines to see. Our culture is based on transparency, mutual respect, mutual accountability, and valuing great ideas no matter where they come from. We already have revenue and our Series A round was led by a tier one VC. While we're a remote-first company with employees across the United States, this role requires physical presence in the San Francisco area. We also offer competitive benefits including comprehensive health care plans, 401k with matching, flexible schedules, and discretionary PTO.

Compound Eye is committed to building a diverse and inclusive work environment. We understand that no candidate is perfectly qualified for any job and experience comes in different forms. We encourage you to apply if you see yourself being successful in this position. 

Compound Eye is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.
This position requires access to technology controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Applicants must be a U.S. person as defined under ITAR (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, asylee, or refugee) or qualify for a license exception.

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