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Director Robotics Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Foundry Robotics Inc

Robotics Research Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $250K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • PTO

Robotics Research Engineer About Us We are reimagining manufacturing through advanced robotics. Our ... As a founding member of our engineering team, you will have a direct and significant impact on our ...

Nimble Robotics

AI Robotics Research Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$180K - $220K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and ...

Nimble Robotics

AI Robotics Research Engineer

San Francisco, CA

$180K - $220K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and ...

CHIRP Robotics Corporation

Robotics Engineer

Torrance, CA · On-site

$120K/yr

Direct, effective communication * Genuine excitement about building difficult physical systems with a small team Any of the following may help, but none is required: * FRC or other serious robotics ...

Nimble Robotics

Robotics SWE, Diagnostics

San Francisco, CA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and ...

Nimble Robotics

Robotics SWE, Diagnostics

San Francisco, CA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and ...

Hadrian

Site Reliability Engineer, Robotics

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$61.50 - $81.50/hr

Experience with Kafka/MQTT/RabbitMQ is a plus. • Direct robotics experience. ROS/ROS2, OPC UA, EtherCAT, motion controllers, or fleet management for autonomous systems • An individual who is self ...

Nimble Robotics

Robot SW Test Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $195K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and ...

Nimble Robotics

Robot SW Test Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $195K/yr

Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and ...

Nimble Robotics

Robot SW Test Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $195K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and ...

Hadrian

Site Reliability Engineer, Robotics

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$61.50 - $81.50/hr

Experience with Kafka/MQTT/RabbitMQ is a plus. • Direct robotics experience. ROS/ROS2, OPC UA, EtherCAT, motion controllers, or fleet management for autonomous systems. • An individual who is ...

Alutiiq, LLC

Robotics Engineer

San Diego, CA · On-site

$90K - $105K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Taxable Entity ALUTIIQ INFORMATION MANAGEMENT LLC Job Title Robotics Engineer Location CA San Diego ... Afognak Native Corporation and Afognak's direct and indirect subsidiaries, partnerships, joint ...

Layup Parts

Robotics Engineer

Huntington Beach, CA · On-site

$160K - $180K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Integrate robotic systems with PLCs and broader factory control systems What We're Looking For * 5+ years of experience with robotic arms (e.g., Fanuc); direct experience with industrial systems ...

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Showing results 1-20

All JobsRobotics JobsDirector Robotics JobsDirector Robotics Jobs in California

Director Robotics information

What is the difference between Director Robotics vs Robotics Engineer?

AspectDirector RoboticsRobotics Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Robotics, Engineering, or related field; extensive experienceBachelor's or Master's in Robotics, Mechanical, Electrical, or Computer Engineering
Work EnvironmentLeadership roles overseeing teams, strategic planning, project managementDesign, develop, test robotic systems; hands-on engineering work
Employer & Industry UsageTech companies, manufacturing, research institutionsRobotics firms, manufacturing, research labs

The main difference is that a Director Robotics focuses on strategic leadership, team management, and project oversight, while a Robotics Engineer is primarily involved in designing and developing robotic systems. Both roles require strong technical backgrounds, but the Director role emphasizes management and planning skills.

What does a director of robotics do?

A Director of Robotics oversees the strategy, development, and implementation of robotics technologies within an organization. They lead teams of engineers and researchers, manage projects, allocate budgets, and ensure that robotic solutions align with business goals. This role also involves staying up-to-date with industry trends, evaluating new technologies, and collaborating with other departments to drive innovation and efficiency. The Director of Robotics often plays a key role in setting the vision for automation and robotics initiatives across the company.

How does a director of robotics typically collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive successful robotics projects?

As a Director of Robotics, you will frequently work with multidisciplinary teams, including engineering, software development, product management, and operations. Collaboration often involves aligning project goals, coordinating timelines, and ensuring technical requirements are met across departments. Effective communication and leadership are essential, as you'll be responsible for facilitating meetings, resolving conflicts, and integrating feedback from various stakeholders. This collaborative approach helps ensure robotics solutions are innovative, feasible, and aligned with organizational strategy.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a director of robotics, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Director of Robotics, you need advanced expertise in robotics engineering, project management, and a strong background in computer science or mechanical engineering, usually supported by a relevant degree and significant industry experience. Familiarity with robotics platforms, programming languages (such as Python, C++), automation systems, and certifications like PMP or Six Sigma are highly valuable. Strategic vision, leadership, and excellent communication skills help drive innovation and coordinate multidisciplinary teams. These competencies are crucial for successfully leading complex robotics initiatives, optimizing processes, and maintaining a competitive edge in technology-driven industries.

What are the most commonly searched types of Robotics jobs in California?

The most popular types of Robotics jobs in California are:

What are popular job titles related to Director Robotics jobs in California?

For Director Robotics jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Director Robotics jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Director Robotics jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Director Robotics jobs?

Cities in California with the most Director Robotics job openings:

Director Robotics jobs near you

Principal / Director - Robotics System Architecture Lead

Qualcomm

Santa Clara, CA • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted yesterday

Qualcomm rating

8.8

Company rating: 8.8 out of 10

Based on 11 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

49th of 244 rated software companies

Job description

Company:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Job Area:
Engineering Group, Engineering Group > Multimedia Systems
General Summary:
**Hiring for San Diego and Santa Clara location
Qualcomm Robotics is seeking a Principal or Senior Director-level Robotics System Architecture Lead to define and own the end-to-end system architecture for next-generation robotic platforms. This role is responsible for shaping the technical direction of Qualcomm's robotics solutions across silicon, firmware, operating systems, middleware, AI, and cloud integration.
The ideal candidate is a recognized technical leader with deep robotics systems experience, strong architectural judgment, and the ability to influence cross-functional teams and long-term platform roadmaps.
Key Responsibilities
  • Own end-to-end robotics system architecture spanning hardware, firmware, OS, middleware, AI runtimes, and cloud/fleet integration.
  • Define architectural principles for real-time behavior, performance, safety isolation, determinism, and scalability across heterogeneous compute (CPU/GPU/DSP/NPU/MCU).
  • Lead architectural decisions across perception, localization, navigation, planning, manipulation, and control stacks.
  • Define multi-sensor architecture (cameras, IMU, lidar/radar, depth) including timing/synchronization, calibration, bandwidth, and compute/power trade-offs for robust perception and state estimation.
  • Architect time synchronization and deterministic sensor data paths (e.g., hardware timestamping, clock discipline, PTP/IEEE 1588 where applicable) to enable precise multi-sensor fusion and real-time decision making.
  • Guide signal processing and sensor pipeline design (ISP, filtering, denoising, feature extraction, sensor fusion inputs), partnering with silicon and algorithm teams to meet accuracy, latency, and reliability targets.
  • Drive integration of ROS 2 / DDS-based middleware and Qualcomm AI technologies into a cohesive, production-grade robotics platform.
  • Partner with silicon, software, AI, and product teams to ensure alignment between software architecture and SoC capabilities, influencing future platform requirements as needed.
  • Establish system-level strategies for reliability, diagnostics, functional safety patterns, and validation.
  • Support customer and partner engagements by translating requirements into scalable reference architectures and platform solutions.
  • Review and guide complex cross-team design efforts; serve as the technical escalation point for system-level issues.

For Director scope:
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship across multiple teams and geographies.
  • Help define hiring standards, technical expectations, and architecture review processes.
  • Influence multi-year robotics platform strategy and investment priorities.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 8+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.
OR
Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 7+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.
OR
PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 6+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.
*Works in the lab, can use hazardous chemicals (e.g., glue, machinery).
Preferred Qualifications:
  • Master's degree or PhD in a relevant technical field.
  • 15+ years of experience in robotics, autonomous systems, embedded platforms, or large-scale software systems.
  • Proven experience owning system-level architecture across hardware and software boundaries.
  • Strong understanding of robotics fundamentals: perception, sensor fusion, estimation, planning, and control.
  • Experience working with heterogeneous compute platforms and performance- or real-time-critical systems.
  • Demonstrated ability to drive alignment and influence decisions across cross-functional engineering teams.
  • Experience shipping commercial or industrial robotic products at scale.
  • Hands-on experience with ROS 2, DDS, real-time Linux, MCU-based systems, and AI inference runtimes.
  • Familiarity with cloud-connected robotics, fleet management, or edge-to-cloud architectures.
  • Prior experience influencing platform or silicon roadmaps.

Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may e-mail disability-accomodations@qualcomm.com or call Qualcomm's toll-free number found here. Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).
To all Staffing and Recruiting Agencies: Our Careers Site is only for individuals seeking a job at Qualcomm. Staffing and recruiting agencies and individuals being represented by an agency are not authorized to use this site or to submit profiles, applications or resumes, and any such submissions will be considered unsolicited. Qualcomm does not accept unsolicited resumes or applications from agencies. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Qualcomm employees or any other company location. Qualcomm is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes/applications.
EEO Employer: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.
Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.
Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits:
$242,300.00 - $363,500.00
The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer - and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link.
If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers.

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About Qualcomm

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Qualcomm is enabling a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected. You interact with products and technologies made possible by Qualcomm every day, including 5G-enabled smartphones that double as pro-level cameras and gaming devices, smarter vehicles and cities, and the technology behind the smart, connected factories that manufactured your latest purchase. Our powerful connectivity solutions keep you connected—even in remote areas. Qualcomm 5G and AI innovations are the power behind the connected intelligent edge. You’ll find our technologies behind and inside the innovations that deliver significant value across multiple industries and to billions of people every day.

Industry

Technology, communication and media

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

San Diego, CA, US

Year founded

1985

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