Director of Robotic Engineering

Director of Robotic Engineering

Location: Detroit, MI- Onsite

Type: Full-time

Security Clearance: No clearance required, must be clearable.

Job Description

We are seeking a highly experienced Director of Robotics Engineering to lead the vision, architecture, and execution of advanced robotic systems. This role requires deep technical expertise in robotics combined with strong leadership, product focus, and system-level thinking. The Director will oversee end-to-end development of robotic platforms—from concept and architecture through prototyping, validation, and production—while mentoring technical leaders and driving innovation across hardware, software, and controls.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Architecture
  • Own the technical vision and system architecture for robotic platforms and subsystems
  • Lead design and integration of robotics hardware, software, firmware, and controls
  • Guide decisions across kinematics, dynamics, sensing, perception, motion planning, and autonomy
  • Ensure system-level performance, reliability, safety, and scalability
• Team & Organizational Leadership
  • Build, lead, and mentor senior robotics engineers and technical managers
  • Establish engineering standards, best practices, and development processes
  • Foster a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and innovation
  • Partner with recruiting to hire top-tier robotics talent
• Product & Execution Ownership
  • Drive roadmap execution aligned with product, manufacturing, and business goals
  • Oversee prototyping, testing, validation, and production readiness
  • Manage technical risk, trade-offs, and cross-disciplinary dependencies
  • Support critical design reviews and milestone decision points
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Collaborate with Product, Manufacturing, Quality, and Operations teams
  • Align robotics development with regulatory, safety, and compliance requirements
  • Support customer engagements, demos, and executive-level technical discussions

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, Electrical, Mechanical, Computer Engineering, or related field (Master’s or PhD strongly preferred)
• 10+ years of experience in robotics engineering, including leadership of complex systems
• Proven track record delivering robotic systems into real-world deployment
• Demonstrated experience leading senior technical teams and large programs

Robotics Expertise (Required)

Deep, hands-on knowledge in several of the following:

• Robotic system design and integration
• Robot kinematics, dynamics, and control systems
• Autonomous systems and motion planning
• Sensing, perception, and sensor fusion (Lidar, vision, depth, IMUs)
• Embedded systems, real-time software, and robotics middleware (e.g., ROS/ROS2)
• Hardware-software co-design and system debugging

Preferred Experience

• Industrial, mobile, medical, autonomous, warehouse, or field robotics
• Safety-critical or regulated robotic systems
• Manufacturing, reliability, and production scale-up
• Working with multidisciplinary teams across hardware, software, and AI

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy

Eccalon provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.