Systems Reliability Engineer

Chef Robotics is the market leader in physical AI for the food industry — deploying AI-powered robots that solve one of the country's largest, most urgent labor shortages. Our fleet has produced over 120 million real meals across a dozen customer facilities in North America and Europe, for customers like Amy’s Kitchen, gategroup, and CookUnity, and every one of those meals trains our AI further. Backed by leading investors, we've proven the hardest part in robotics — real-world deployment at scale — and now we're looking for people who want to build what comes after.

About the Role

We're hiring a Systems Reliability Engineer to serve as a vital link between our customers and our engineering teams. In this role, you’ll work in the office, communicating with customers’ operations teams to understand issues on site, triage incoming tickets with relevant data, investigate to determine a fix, and deploy fixes or mitigations. When help is needed, you will lead escalations to Engineering. Additionally, you'll be in the field to execute repairs, deploy fixes, ensure resolution, and ensure customer satisfaction. You will also partner with our sales team to improve existing performance and develop and test new tasks for the robot, leading to expansion at existing customers.

This is an opportunity to use your deep technical expertise and passion for robotics while having a direct impact on Continuous Improvement and Chef's revenue stream. In this role, you’ll be responsible for managing one of the core drivers of the company’s success: our relationships with our customers. If you’re excited about working in a customer-facing role on hard technical problems and you thrive in the fast-paced, dynamic environment of an early-stage startup, we’d love to hear from you.

Please note that this is a customer-facing role where you’ll be deployed at our customers’ facilities at least 50% and up to 75% of the time 

What You'll Do

• Act as the face of Chef Robotics in the field, leading the in-field deployment and support of Chef’s robotic systems at customer sites
• Investigate customer issues, triage incoming tickets with relevant data, investigate to determine a fix, and deploy fixes or mitigations
• Collaborate with Chef’s Forward Deployed Engineering and R&D team to prioritize and resolve production-blocking issues
• Execute field break/fix hardware repairs and deploy and test new software
• Work with Chef’s Customer Success team to improve existing performance and to develop and test new tasks for the robot
• Serve as a touchpoint for the customer to ensure they have a great experience with our team and our product 
• Willingness to be hands-on with in-system break/fix
• Prepare and develop technical presentations to explain our company's products or services to customers

Qualifications

• BS, MS, in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
• Minimum 3+ years' experience in a customer-facing role in applications engineering, deployment, solutions engineering, or similar roles
• Prior experience in two or more of the following areas: machine learning, motion planning, robotics, computer vision, or control
• Prior experience with at least one of the following areas: product engineering, applications engineering, solutions engineering, sales engineering, forward deployed engineering
• Prior experience in API integrations for Support tooling development
• Demonstrated track record of shipping products quickly and efficiently
• Able to work independently and with minimal supervision
• Ability to travel at least 75% of your time is required
• Must be available to work a flexible schedule to support customers, including some weekends, nights, and on-call hours
• Familiar with Linux/Unix and/or Robot Operating System (ROS); Python or Linux experience is a plus
• Strong communication and project management skills to recognize, communicate, and properly document product issues, complaints, and improvements

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $120,000 – $170,000 per year.

Chef is an early-stage startup where equity is a major part of the compensation package. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

In addition to salary and early-stage equity, we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, commuter benefits, flexible paid time off (PTO), catered lunch, and 401(k) matching.