The Role
At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world-class team in Automated Driving, Energy & Materials, Human-Centered AI, Human Interactive Driving, Large Behavior Models, and Robotics.
The Mission
Make general-purpose robots a reality via large-scale embodied AI.
The Challenge
We envision a future where robots assist with household chores and cooking, aid older individuals in maintaining their independence, and enable people to spend more time on the activities they enjoy most. To achieve this, robots need to be able to operate reliably in messy, unstructured environments. Our mission is to answer the question, “What will it take to create truly general-purpose robots that can accomplish a wide variety of tasks in settings like human homes with minimal human supervision?”. To answer this, we are gathering large datasets of physical interaction from a variety of sources (including robots and people) and training large generative foundation models on this physical interaction data, along with language, video, audio, and other rich modalities.
The Team
Our goal is to redefine the field of robotic manipulation, enabling long-horizon dexterous behaviors to be efficiently taught, learned, and improved over time in diverse, real-world environments.
Our team has deep cross-functional expertise across simulation, perception, controls, language, vision, multimodal learning, and generative modeling. Success is measured by the advancement of robot capabilities, and we’re strong believers in open research. Our north star is fundamental technological advancement in building robots that can flexibly perform a wide variety of tasks in diverse environments with minimal human supervision. Let’s make general-purpose robots a reality.
We operate a fleet of robots, and robot-embodied teaching and deployment are key parts of our strategy. Some of our previous work is highlighted here.
The Opportunity
We’re looking for a Deployment Engineer to ensure the health, performance, and reliability of our robot fleet. In this role, you’ll bring up new robots by diagnosing complex failures and driving continuous improvements in process, safety, and uptime. You’ll collaborate across engineering, research, and operations teams to keep our systems running efficiently in dynamic, real-world environments.
Responsibilities
- Own the health of our robot fleet by performing routine preventive maintenance, firmware updates, hardware swaps, and conveying the need for repair to amplify fleet uptime.
- Monitor system logs and performance dashboards, identify emerging issues, and drive corrective actions with research, engineering, and operations teams.
- Carry out end-to-end bring-up of new robots (mechanical assembly, calibration, tuning, sensor validation, safety checks).
- Develop and run calibration procedures for actuators, cameras, LiDAR, and force/torque sensors.
- Document operational processes to develop SOPs and feed improvements back into development.
- Diagnose complex electro-mechanical and software failures on-site by analyzing robot logs, using oscilloscopes, software tools, and other data loggers.
- Triage issues, perform root-cause analyses, and implement fast, durable fixes—often in live production environments.
- Train internal and external team members on best-practice operations procedures, debugging techniques, and safety procedures.
- Collaborate with project managers to define site readiness, resource needs, and risk mitigation.
- Assemble feedback from deployment operations to influence hardware and software development.
- Cultivate a culture of safety and quality throughout the deployment lifecycle.
Qualifications
- B.S. in Robotics, Mechanical/Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related field.
- 3 + years of experience commissioning or supporting robots, automated machinery, or industrial automation systems.
- Proficient with Linux and Git, including using the terminal and editing and running scripts from the command line.
- Solid understanding of kinematics, control loops, sensor function, and common communication protocols.
- Comfortable reading mechanical and electrical schematics, using test/measurement equipment, and the ability to edit code and configuration files for debugging.
- Familiarity with robotics software tools, including simulation software.
- Proven track record to methodically isolate hardware vs. software faults and drive issues to closure under time pressure.
- Strong communication skills, including written documentation skills. Shown success in turning ad-hoc fixes and workflows into clear, version-controlled procedures.
- Familiarity with common project management software and experience with Asana is a plus.
- Ability to travel up to 50% (domestic & international) for onsite deployments and emergency call-outs.
- Ability to lift 50 lbs, work in warehouse or factory settings, and follow all site safety protocols.
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TRI is fueled by a diverse and inclusive community of people with unique backgrounds, education and life experiences. We are dedicated to fostering an innovative and collaborative environment by living the values that are an essential part of our culture. We believe diversity makes us stronger and are proud to provide Equal Employment Opportunity for all, without regard to an applicant’s race, color, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, religion, marital status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state or local laws.
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.
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The Company
What We Do
Toyota Research Institute (TRI) envisions a future where Toyota products, enabled by TRI technology, dramatically improve quality of life for individuals and society. To achieve its Vision, TRI’s Mission is to create new tools and capabilities focused on improving the human condition through research in Energy & Materials, Human-centered AI, Human Interactive Driving, and Robotics.
We’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. To lead this transformative shift, we are looking for the world's best talent -- people who enjoy solving tough problems while having fun doing it.
Why Work With Us
TRI is fueled by a diverse and inclusive community of people with unique backgrounds, education and life experiences. We are dedicated to fostering an innovative and collaborative environment by living the values that are an essential part of our culture.
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