Project Hydra | Hardware Technician - Robotics Lab

Welo Global•California, CA

21h•Onsite

About The Position

The Hardware Technician owns the physical side of a large-scale robot data collection operation, supporting research and low-volume production as robot embodiments, grippers, and camera rigs change. The role builds and maintains data collection stations, keeps the robot fleet running, and supports the dedicated teleoperator team by maintaining reliable, well-calibrated hardware and helping ensure data quality. The position is full-time, onsite in Santa Clara, California, with a 12-month contract and possibility of extension. The stated shifts are Monday through Friday, either 7:00 AM–3:30 PM or 9:00 AM–5:30 PM, with flexibility on shift coverage as the labs run extended hours. The stated rate is $40 per hour.

Requirements

At least 3 years of hands-on technician experience in a lab, prototyping, or low-volume build environment, such as robotics, medical devices, aerospace, or semiconductor equipment.
Associate degree in a technical field, a relevant trade or technical certificate, or equivalent hands-on experience.
Mechanical assembly fundamentals, including fasteners and torque, bearings, belts, and linkages.
Ability to read CAD and mechanical drawings using Onshape, SolidWorks, or similar tools.
Electrical skills including soldering and basic SMD rework, crimping and connectorization, and harness building.
Confident use of a multimeter and oscilloscope.
Comfort using Linux command line, including SSH, running calibration scripts, and reading logs.
Experience with motors, encoders, and sensor integration, and understanding how grounding or cable issues affect a data stream.
Methodical work habits and ability to document fixes and procedures.
Comfort with ambiguity and frequent change, and ability to prioritize when supporting multiple labs.
Ability to work onsite in Santa Clara and provide flexible shift coverage as labs run extended hours.

Nice To Haves

Experience with humanoid or bimanual platforms such as Unitree, Fourier, ALOHA/ARX-class rigs, and dexterous hands.
Maintenance and calibration experience with collaborative or industrial arms such as UR, Franka, xArm, ARX, or equivalent.
Experience building and calibrating multi-camera rigs, including RealSense, ZED, or Orbbec-class depth cameras.
Experience operating and maintaining FDM or SLA printers and designing simple fixtures and adapters.
Light Python or bash scripting to automate repetitive bench or calibration tasks.
Experience in a high-throughput lab or production line where uptime or yield was tracked.
Vendor-facing experience with RMAs, lead times, and spares planning.

Responsibilities

Build, wire, and bring up data collection stations, including robot arms, multi-camera rigs, workstations, teleoperation hardware, and cable management.
Perform daily fleet checks, preventive maintenance, calibration routines, and fault diagnosis on arms, hands, and sensors.
Swap and integrate end-effectors, grippers, dexterous hands, force/torque and tactile sensors, and RGB-D cameras.
Run calibration and firmware procedures across the fleet and identify drift before it affects data.
Assemble and iterate prototype hardware using printed parts, off-the-shelf components, vendor-fabricated parts, and custom harnesses.
Perform soldering, crimping, connectorization, harness building, and PCB rework support at the bench.
Manage lab inventory of spares and consumables, parts kitting, bench and tool organization, and vendor shipping, returns, and RMAs.
Support teleoperators with hardware issues during live collection by triaging, fixing or escalating issues, and restoring stations to operation.
Document work through build sheets, maintenance logs, calibration records, and hardware SOPs.
Help engineers and researchers bring up new embodiments and stations.