Forward Deployed Engineer

Customer Deployment & Machine Activation

• Lead on-site machine activation, installation, and configuration of AIM autonomy hardware + software.
• Execute end-to-end deployment workflows - from mechanical installation to calibration, tuning, validation, and safety acceptance testing.
• Train on-site personnel on safe operations, standard procedures, emergency stops, and system workflows.
• Own deep operational immersion - spending time on physical job sites to understand realities, not assumptions.

Field Diagnostics, Debugging & Operational Stability

• Diagnose system failures across compute, networking, sensors, hydraulics, perception, control models, GNSS, and cloud connectivity.
• Perform structured root-cause analysis based on logs, system traces, packet captures, machine telemetry, and hardware inspection.
• Develop or extend diagnostic tools, scripts, and test harnesses to triage issues faster.
• Identify failure patterns and propose mitigations upstream (software, firmware, safety logic, hardware design).

Systems Engineering & Requirements Discovery

• Translate field realities into actionable requirements for software, hardware, autonomy, and reliability engineering teams.
• Identify gaps in serviceability, environmental tolerance (shock, vibration, dust), safety behavior, and operator workflows.
• Validate ConOps, safety assumptions, and degraded-mode behavior against real site conditions.

Testing, Validation & Continuous Quality Feedback

• Design and execute on-site test plans (functional, performance, environmental, regression) for autonomy behaviors, safety systems, control responses, and telemetry reliability.
• Validate releases, patches, hardware revisions, and autonomy updates under real operational stress.
• Maintain clear bug reports, defect triage, downtime logs, and structured feedback cycles into engineering.
• Drive quality upstream - flagging architectural/testability gaps early and championing improvements.

Product Integration & Custom Engineering

• Write production-grade code when needed - scripts, integrations, custom workflows, or quick fixes to unblock deployments.
• Build customer workflow integrations (data APIs, cloud ingestion, operator UI tweaks, etc.).
• Partner with autonomy, software, and hardware teams to validate features in the field and influence product direction.

Operational Engineering & Documentation

• Create service documentation, deployment procedures, troubleshooting guides, and safety protocols.
• Work with OEMs and dealers to enable them to install, maintain, and support systems.
• Define and improve deployment playbooks that scale globally.

Customer Relationship & Trust Building

• Act as the bridge between customers and AIM engineering - clear, honest, technically grounded communication.
• Manage expectations around downtime, features, maintenance windows, and machine readiness.
• Build trust through competence, transparency, and ownership.

Travel

• Deep immersion on customer sites worldwide (US, Australia, Africa, Europe).
• ~40–70% travel depending on deployment cycles.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, Robotics, Systems) or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years experience in one or more: field engineering, systems engineering, SDE/SDE-T, robotics deployment, industrial automation, test/validation engineering.
• Hands-on experience debugging complex hardware/software systems under real-world constraints.
• Strong coding ability (Python, Bash, JavaScript, or equivalent) and comfort writing production-quality scripts or small features.
• Strong understanding of sensors, networking, Linux systems, compute modules, and embedded hardware fundamentals.
• Experience designing/executing test plans and reporting structured quality findings.
• Excellent communication skills - able to translate field issues into crisp engineering requirements.
• Ability to work autonomously under ambiguous, high-pressure conditions.
• Willingness to travel internationally and domestically, often on short notice.
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience deploying robotics, autonomous systems, heavy equipment, or industrial automation.
• Experience with safety-critical systems, emergency stops, lockout/tagout, or functional safety frameworks.
• Familiarity with hydraulics, GNSS systems, perception stacks, or motion control systems.
• Experience analyzing operational data and performance metrics.
• Experience building test automation, CI test harnesses, or validation pipelines.
• Experience developing service manuals, install guides, or field engineering playbooks.
• OEM or dealer network experience (e.g., Komatsu, Caterpillar, Volvo).
• Ability to influence product and engineering teams through data, clarity, and field insight.

How you'll stand out

• You bring systems thinking - connecting field issues to architectural insights.
• You can turn ambiguous field failures into structured, repeatable engineering test cases.
• You operate calmly under pressure and lead customers through complex issues.
• You write clean code, clean documentation, and clean bug reports.
• You thrive in the dirt, in the logs, and in the details.
• You bridge the gap between engineering vision and field reality.