Hardware R&D Tech Lead

Diligent Robotics•Austin, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Hardware R&D Technical Lead runs the HQ team responsible for keeping Moxi robots working in hospitals. The team provisions, builds, tests, quality-checks, and ships what the field needs. Diligent Robotics operates Moxi mobile service robots in hospitals across the United States, with the fleet expected to grow from about 70 robots to about 200 by the end of 2027, mostly next-generation units at new hospital sites. This role ensures HQ operations keep pace with that growth. The team shares the Service Operations mission of achieving 95% overall monthly robot uptime, delivering assigned objectives on time, and continuously improving systems and processes. The lead develops the team, forecasts staffing and capacity, coordinates priorities and engineering tests, and oversees depot operations. The role is full-time and on-site at the Austin, Texas headquarters in a hardware shop and office setting, with up to 10% travel to hospital sites and manufacturing partners.

Requirements

At least 5 years of hands-on work with electromechanical or robotics hardware, such as building, repairing, testing, or field service.
At least 2 years of direct technician leadership, including hiring, coaching, and performance management.
Strong electrical troubleshooting skills with low-voltage DC systems, batteries, chargers, and wiring harnesses, including use of a multimeter and reading schematics.
Experience running a test, quality-control, or build process using written procedures and recorded results.
Clear, direct written and verbal communication with technicians, engineers, and leadership.
Ability to balance competing priorities and communicate what will slip and why.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with MaintainX or a similar computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).
Experience working with contract manufacturers on builds, quality issues, and returns.
Background with mobile robots, AMRs, or other autonomous machines.
Experience with lithium battery systems and charging, particularly LiFePO4.
Lean or 5S shop practices, or experience in a regulated environment such as healthcare.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop the team through weekly one-on-ones, written role expectations, clear measures, coaching, direct feedback, performance reviews, and early resolution of performance issues in coordination with HR.
Cross-train team members so tasks do not depend on a single person.
Build a culture of ownership by confirming work is complete, closing loops, and making written handoffs.
Track workload across provisioning, builds, quality control, refurbishment, and parts shipping, identifying capacity gaps before they cause delays.
Forecast headcount with the Head of Service Operations as the fleet grows, then hire and onboard according to plan.
Plan coverage for time off, on-call rotations, and build surges.
Own the team's charter and intake for requests from field service, engineering, and manufacturing.
Maintain a single prioritized backlog, make trade-offs visible early, attend the daily field service stand-up, and publish a weekly status covering completed, in-progress, blocked, and decision-needed work.
Plan and run hardware tests and validation with hardware, software, and reliability engineering teams, including docking, charging, battery, thermal, and endurance testing.
Schedule HQ test robots, ensure test results are recorded and shared, and pilot retrofits before they are deployed to the fleet.
Support root-cause analysis of recurring field failures.
Oversee robot and base provisioning, builds, refurbishment, and returns.
Own the quality-control gate to ensure parts and robots ship complete to hospital sites and manufacturing.
Ensure parts ship the same day and keep work instructions and repair procedures current.