Founding Engineer, R&D

About the Role

As a Founding Engineer, you will be a core part of the team creating a robot that must survive operating for long durations in some of the most cramped, dark, dirty, and hazardous industrial environments — and eventually, making thousands of them.

In this role, you will bridge the gap between complex robotics and the human user. One day, you might be refining internal assemblies for clarity and serviceability; the next, designing intuitive control interfaces for extreme environments. We value engineers who understand that clean, intentional design goes a long way.

• Design, manufacture, and assemble robotic components
• Select, test, and integrate sensors for robotic perception & navigation
• Design and build test facilities for the robots, and then test them
• Develop and refine algorithms for novel robotic controls in confined environments
• 3D data reconstruction and visualization
• Help improve manufacturing processes for reliability and repeatability

We're looking for founding generalist engineers with 2+ years of work experience and foundational knowledge in hardware, mechanical, or software disciplines but understand a little bit about all of them.

• Intuitive understanding of material, structural, and mechanical system behavior
• CAD fluency (preferably OnShape) with experience in DFM, GD&T
• Manufacturing experience (CNC, additive, composites, molds)
• Prototyping and a fast iterative (build, test, fail) approach

• Creating an intuitive UI/UX interface for both front and backend
• Experience with 3D data reconstruction, such as Gaussian splatting
• Obsession with fusing both functionality and aesthetic form

• Proficient in C++ and Python, with ROS1/ROS2 experience in Linux
• Experience building RC vehicles, flight controllers, and motor controls
• Soldering, PCB work, and design experience

• Technical Versatility:
  Deep expertise in one core discipline but proficient enough to dive deep into others
• Design-Minded:
  You believe that 'how it looks' and 'how it feels' are just as important as 'how it works'
• Driven by Curiosity:
  You build complex things for fun in your free time

$100K/yr - $180K/yr + Equity (0.25% - 1.0%) + Benefits

Drover Labs cares deeply about your time. Project work and on-site interviews are compensated on a paid hourly basis. We want the foundations of our company to be in investing in what's most important — you.