Application Engineer

Rhoda ai • Palo Alto, CA

11d

About The Position

At Rhoda AI, we're building the full-stack foundation for the next generation of humanoid robots — from high-performance, software-defined hardware to the foundational models and video world models that control it. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real-world environments and handling scenarios unseen in training. We work at the intersection of large-scale learning, robotics, and systems, with a research team that includes researchers from Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and beyond. We're not building a feature; we're building a new computing platform for physical work — and with over $400M raised, we're investing aggressively in the R&D, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make that a reality.
We're looking for a mid-to-senior Application Engineer to translate real-world customer use cases into robust intelligent robot deployments. You will design, prototype, and refine grippers, end-of-arm tooling, work stations, and integration hardware — and develop efficient strategies for robot learning and data collection — working at the intersection of robotics, AI, hardware, and deployment operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, or a related field
• 3–6 years of experience in mechanical design for robotics, automation, manufacturing, or industrial systems
• Strong CAD proficiency (SolidWorks, OnShape, or equivalent)
• Experience designing grippers, tooling, fixtures, or electromechanical assemblies
• Hands-on prototyping experience (3D printing, machining, fabrication & assembly)
• Experience debugging robotic systems
• Familiarity with AI/ML concepts as applied to robotics (e.g., machine vision, imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or policy training)
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with robotic arms or humanoid systems
• Hands-on experience with robot policy training, fine-tuning, or deployment
• Experience integrating conveyors, AMRs, actuators, sensors, and other electromechanical devices
• Experience supporting real-world deployments or field installations — scoping timelines, managing deliverables, and coordinating across teams
• Experience coordinating external contractors or vendors for fabrication or integration

Responsibilities

• Execute customer projects end-to-end — from scoping and solution design through onsite delivery, serving as the primary technical point of contact
• Design mechanical solutions including grippers, EOAT, fixtures, and work-cells; rapidly prototype and validate concepts before field deployment
• Drive AI model post-training and deployment on robot hardware, developing training strategies and partnering with robot pilots and data ops to build robust policies
• Become a product expert — develop deep knowledge of the full stack and internal workflows to accelerate customer onboarding and inform the roadmap
• Continuously improve by identifying failure patterns, building reusable design standards, and contributing to shared documentation

Benefits

• Own the full customer journey — from first scoping call to live robot deployment — with direct visibility into how your solutions perform in the real world
• Work at the intersection of hardware design and AI, shaping how our robots learn and operate in production customer environments
• High ownership in a small team where your design decisions and deployment strategies directly influence the roadmap and scale of what we build next

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level