Ai Robotics Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

We are an advanced robotics company developing intelligent humanoid robots designed to operate safely and effectively in real-world environments.

The company is building a full-stack robotics platform combining AI, robotics software, hardware and human-centred design to develop capable robots for a broad range of applications.

Backed by a major technology organisation, the business has the resources to pursue ambitious long-term robotics development while maintaining the pace and flexibility of a high-growth technology company.

The long-term ambition is to make advanced humanoid robotics practical, reliable and commercially viable at scale.

About the Role

We are looking for a Chief Technology Officer to own the company's overall technology strategy and technical direction.

This is a company-wide leadership position spanning long-term technology strategy, product and R&D direction, robotics architecture and the development of the engineering organisation.

You will work closely with the CEO and senior leadership team to determine where the company should focus its technical investment, how the robotics platform should evolve and what capabilities need to be built to move from advanced R&D into reliable commercial products.

You will ultimately be responsible for bringing together the full robotics stack, from actuators, electronics and embedded systems through controls, planning, perception, AI and data infrastructure.

This is not a purely strategic CTO position. You will be expected to maintain strong technical depth, challenge engineering decisions, set architectural direction and get involved in the hardest technical problems when required.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and define the company's long-term technology strategy and technical vision
• Translate the company's commercial and product ambitions into a clear technology and R&D roadmap
• Work alongside the CEO and senior leadership team to determine technical priorities, investment areas and build-versus-buy decisions
• Own the technical architecture and evolution of the humanoid robotics platform
• Define and execute the long-term R&D roadmap across hardware, software, AI and robotics
• Lead and develop the entire technical organisation across hardware, mechatronics, electrical engineering, embedded systems, controls, software, AI/ML and robotics
• Build the organisational structure, leadership team and hiring strategy required to support the company's next stage of growth
• Set technical standards, architecture principles, engineering processes and development practices across the organisation
• Drive innovation across manipulation, loco-manipulation, autonomy, perception and humanoid robot hardware
• Oversee development of the full control stack, including state estimation, whole-body control, MPC and learning-based policies
• Ensure hardware, firmware, controls, software and AI teams are working from a coherent system architecture
• Establish the technical approach for taking advanced robotics research through development, validation and into reliable real-world deployment
• Ensure the technology roadmap balances technical ambition with product requirements, development speed, cost and commercial priorities
• Make final technical decisions on major architecture and platform-level questions
• Develop a culture of high technical standards, ownership, experimentation and execution
• Represent the company's technology vision externally with customers, strategic partners, investors and the wider robotics community
• Protect and develop the company's core technical differentiation and intellectual property
• Maintain sufficient technical depth to engage directly with the most challenging engineering and research problems

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline
• 10+ years of experience across advanced robotics, AI/ML or a closely related technical field
• Significant experience working with humanoid, legged or highly complex robotic systems
• Proven experience leading large, multidisciplinary engineering or R&D organisations
• Track record of taking advanced robotics technology from research through development and into working physical systems
• Experience operating at senior executive or technical leadership level, with responsibility for setting technology strategy rather than simply delivering against an existing roadmap
• Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop and retain high-performing technical teams

Technical Requirements

• Deep technical expertise in robotics software architecture and AI systems for humanoid or legged robots
• Advanced experience with learning-based approaches including reinforcement learning, imitation learning, behavioural models and vision-language-action systems
• Strong understanding of applying learning methods to robotic locomotion and manipulation
• Hands-on experience with real-time robotics systems and ROS/ROS2 or comparable robotics middleware
• Strong understanding of the full humanoid robotics stack, including actuators, sensors, electronics, embedded systems, controls, planning, AI and data infrastructure
• Experience integrating hardware and software across complex robotic systems
• Strong understanding of robot controls, planning and state estimation
• Experience with production or field deployment of sophisticated robotic systems
• Knowledge of model-based approaches including MPC, optimal control and LQR
• Strong understanding of simulation, data generation, training infrastructure and the systems required to develop learning-based robotics at scale

Leadership Profile

The successful candidate will be a technically credible leader who can move comfortably between company strategy, engineering organisation design and detailed technical discussions.

They will be expected to:

• Set a clear technical direction and bring the organisation with them
• Make difficult technical decisions and take responsibility for the outcome
• Know when to stay at the strategic level and when to get into the technical detail
• Challenge assumptions and raise the technical bar across the organisation
• Build strong relationships across engineering, product and commercial teams
• Communicate complex technical ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Balance long-term R&D ambition with the realities of building a commercial robotics company
• Operate with high ownership, urgency and accountability
• Build an engineering culture where people are expected to solve difficult problems rather than work around them
• Be comfortable operating in an environment where the technology is still evolving and many of the problems do not have established answers

What Success Looks Like

In the first few years, the CTO will establish the technical foundation for the company's next stage of growth.

Success will mean:

• A clear and credible technology strategy aligned with the company's commercial ambitions
• A world-class technical leadership team and engineering organisation
• A coherent architecture across the full robotics stack
• Faster progression from research concepts to working robotic systems
• Significant advances in locomotion, manipulation and autonomous behaviour
• A repeatable process for developing, validating and deploying increasingly capable humanoid robots
• A technology platform that can support the company's transition from advanced R&D into scalable commercial deployment
• Clear technical differentiation that creates a lasting advantage in the humanoid robotics market