Staff Research Scientist

Exol•Wilmington, MA

2d•$149,000 - $204,600•Onsite

About The Position

Symbotic is seeking a highly analytical and practical engineer to model and evaluate complex, real-world systems. This role focuses on translating physical system behavior—throughput, flow, and constraints—into simple, actionable mathematical models that inform product design, site configuration, and customer solutions. This is not a purely theoretical or simulation-heavy role. The ideal candidate is comfortable working from first principles, observing systems in operation, and building models that are directionally accurate and decision-useful.

Requirements

Background in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or similar.
Minimum 7 years of experience in manufacturing, automation, or logistics environments.
Throughput, capacity, or flow modeling
Strong intuition for cycle times, bottlenecks, and system constraint, queueing / congestion concepts
Ability to build models from first principle, imperfect or limited data
Excellent communication skills -- can explain complex ideas simply & comfortable presenting to leadership and customers

Nice To Haves

PhD preferred.
Experience with tools like Python, Excel, or simulation tools is helpful but not required

Responsibilities

Build mathematical models to estimate system throughput, capacity, and performance (e.g., cases/hour, cycle times, asset utilization)
Translate on-site observations into structured models (e.g., timing operations, identifying constraints, estimating flow)
Support customer solutioning and pre-sales by sizing systems and validating assumptions
Work alongside leadership to pressure-test system design in real time
Bridge intuitive reasoning with structured modeling (e.g., “back-of-the-envelope” → scalable frameworks)
Identify system bottlenecks (e.g., congestion, latency, resource constraints)
Develop simple tools/templates to help teams consistently model and size systems
Clearly communicate outputs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders