Lead Robotics Systems Engineer - 1099 Contractor

PROJECT BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
We are an innovative robotics start-up developing a person-following mobile robotics platform designed for light construction trade and consumers. We’ve engaged several freelance engineers across mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software disciplines. These workstreams are currently at very early stages of maturity with each engineer pursuing different technical directions.

ROLE SUMMARY
The Hands-On Lead Robotics Systems Engineer (Hardware/Software Architecture & Integration) will serve as the technical product owner and systems-level lead for the person-following mobile robot.
Key responsibilities include:
• Auditing existing engineering workstreams and validating assumptions
• Defining MVP and associated Prototype v1, v2, v3 scope
• Establishing system architecture, integration strategy, and technical priorities
• Making hard, unbiased decisions on what to continue, pause, or discontinue
• Producing a realistic, lean execution plan aligned with budget constraints

This is a build-oriented, hands-on role working closely with the founder. The individual will effectively take ownership of the technical product direction from a project and product-owner perspective—evaluating engineer output, defining the PRD, setting architectural direction, and rolling up their sleeves where needed to unblock progress and reduce risk. A strong bias toward simple, robust, and cost-effective solutions over over-engineered or research-oriented approaches is critical.

ENGAGEMENT STRUCTURE
We are seeking a freelance 1099 contractor $100 - $150 /HR

Phase 1 — Current State Assessment & Technical Audit (Initial Engagement)

Objective:
Rapidly establish clarity on what exists today, identify risks and misalignment, and determine what should be continued, reworked, deferred, or stopped.

Scope:
• Review existing mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software efforts
• Assess assumptions, integration risks, and technical debt
• Evaluate readiness of subsystems for MVP inclusion vs deferral
• Identify gaps that threaten timeline, budget, or investor credibility

Deliverables:
• Executive Summary synthesizing key findings, root causes of major risks, and prioritized recommendations with clear rationale
• Clear inventory of what exists, by subsystem and engineer
• High level System Diagram illustrating current architecture (as-is) and key integration gaps
• Identification of undocumented assumptions and hidden dependencies
• Initial MVP boundary definition (what is explicitly in-scope vs out-of-scope for MVP) sufficient to evaluate current workstreams
• Assessment of technical debt, fragility, and integration risk
• Honest gap assessment
• Readiness evaluation for MVP, Prototype v1, v2, and v3 inclusion
• Clear recommendation on what should be continued, reworked paused, discontinued entirely
• Risks to timeline, budget, and investor credibility if gaps are not addressed

Phase 1 is explicitly an assessment and recommendation phase; it does not include redesign or implementation.

Phase 2 - PRD Ownership
The role will take ownership of the PRD including:
• Defining MVP, Prototype v1, v2, and v3 scope with clear feature inclusion/exclusion
• System Architecture & Integration Strategy
• Industrial Design Strategy and Integration
• High-level product development and management plan
• Validation, Budgeting & Investor-Ready Roadmap

Phase 3 Ongoing Product Development & Management
• TBD based on Phases 1 & 2

IDEAL EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS
The ideal candidate brings significant relevant hands-on experience across hardware product development, robotics, mechatronics and/or ideally mobile electromechanical systems, specifically for outdoor consumer or light-industrial/construction environments. We are looking for demonstrated ownership of multiple products from early prototype through manufacturing launch of wheeled, load-bearing mobile platforms.

The candidate should have operated at least 3-5+ years directly owning multi-disciplinary execution across mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software teams. Experience must include EVT to DVT phases, with a heavy emphasis on low-volume DFM for early pilot builds (50-100 units) and credible investor-facing prototypes.

Requirements
• Multidisciplinary systems integration across mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software, with ownership of technical interfaces and safety-first architecture.

• Hands-on experience designing and integrating wheeled, load-bearing mobile platforms, including drivetrain selection, motor sizing, braking, stability, and payload tradeoffs.

• Experience with closed-loop motor control, motion control systems, and tuning for stability under varying payloads and terrain including mobile systems for outdoor operation.

• Experience implementing person-following or user-responsive behavior using practical, real-world approaches (e.g., UWB, BLE, vision, or hybrid), with the ability to evaluate reliability tradeoffs across environments.

• Experience designing systems with manual, remote, and semi-autonomous control modes, including safe override, handoff logic, loss-of-signal handling, and fail-safe behavior.

• Implementation of obstacle detection and safety behaviors using ToF, ultrasonic, vision, or similar sensors appropriate for operation around people, pets, and outdoor hazards.

• Embedded control experience on microcontroller-class platforms (e.g., ESP32, STM32), using RTOS or bare-metal C/C++, with judgment on whether ROS/ROS2 is appropriate or unnecessary.

• Ownership of battery-powered mobile systems, including battery chemistry tradeoffs, runtime estimation under payload, charging strategy, and thermal considerations.

• Ability to balance power, weight, payload, usability, reliability, and BOM cost to meet consumer and light-commercial price points.

• Familiarity with environmental ruggedization for outdoor products (dust, moisture, vibration), with judgment on appropriate IP levels for MVP vs later stages.

• Experience supporting low-volume pilot builds (≈50–100 units), including DFM tradeoffs, wiring, assembly sequencing, and field issue feedback.