Chief Scientific Officer

Energize Group; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 300,000 - 500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Energize Group in San Francisco is hiring its first Chief Scientific Officer to own the technical and scientific roadmap, partnering with the CEO, and shaping multi-agent coordination and physical AI for production deployment.

The role demands hands-on credibility with ROS2, C++, and simulation tools, plus experience in leading an engineering or research org through early-stage growth.

Qualifications

• Experience architecting fleet orchestration or multi-agent systems at research or applied level.
• Track record of technical or scientific leadership in a venture-backed startup.
• Deep systems thinking across distributed real-time coordination; hardware/software integration.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical and scientific roadmap; be primary technical partner to the CEO.
• Set direction on multi-agent coordination and physical AI as the team scales toward production-grade reliability.
• Lead strategy to enable field deployment across international markets.

Skills

Fleet orchestration

Technical leadership

Distributed systems

ROS2

C++

Tools

ROS2

C++

Simulation

Job description

A venture-backed robotics startup in San Francisco is hiring its first Chief Scientific Officer.

They are building a six-legged robot with magnetic feet that climbs metal structures to inspect and service critical infrastructure: high-voltage transmission towers, pipelines, tanks, bridges, and shipbuilding hulls. It does the inspection, contact measurement, corrosion checks, light manipulation, grinding and prep, welding, and bolt torque work that drones can't do and that today falls to truck crews or gets skipped entirely.

Off-the-shelf magnet and actuator technology wasn't good enough, so the team built its own proprietary magnet and actuator systems in house.

They are several robot generations in, with multiple product lines in development, and a longer-term roadmap toward true multi-agent fleet coordination.

This is a first CSO seat with real influence over where the science goes. You'll own the technical and scientific roadmap, be the primary technical partner to the CEO, and set the direction on multi-agent coordination and physical AI as the team scales toward production-grade reliability and field deployment.

What they're looking for:

• Experience architecting fleet orchestration or multi-agent systems, at the research or applied level
• A track record of technical or scientific leadership at a venture-backed startup, ideally having shaped an engineering or research org through a similar early stage
• Deep systems thinking across distributed systems, real-time coordination, and fault-tolerant architecture, plus comfort with hardware and software integration
• Strong hands-on credibility with ROS2, C++, and simulation or modeling tools; legged robotics experience is a plus
• Comfort being the technical counterpart to a CEO, including investor and partner-facing conversations

Backed by committed seed funding and real customer pull across multiple international markets, riding a strong tailwind of infrastructure investment. Compensation up to $500k plus meaningful equity.