Engineering Technician

Generalist; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Generalist in San Francisco is seeking an Engineering Technician to play a crucial role in building robotic systems. You’ll assemble components, conduct electrical work, and ensure high standards of quality and precision in a fast-paced environment.

This role offers opportunities for ownership and growth as the complexity of builds increases, making a real impact on robotics innovation. Ideal candidates will have hands-on assembly experience and a detail-oriented approach to problem-solving.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with mechanical assembly or hardware builds.
• Exposure to basic electrical work (wiring, connectors).
• Comfortable using tools and working with physical systems.

Responsibilities

• Assemble mechanical components into fully functioning robotic systems.
• Perform basic electrical work and connect components.
• Read and execute build instructions with high accuracy.

Skills

Mechanical assembly

Basic electrical work

Detail-oriented

Using hand and power tools

Problem-solving

Job description

About the Role

This is a hands-on, execution-driven role at the center of building our robots.

As an Engineering Technician, you’ll be responsible for turning parts into working systems — quickly, precisely, and reliably. You’ll help ensure builds are clean, repeatable, and scalable.

In practice, you’ll assemble mechanical systems, perform basic electrical work (wiring, connectors, simple integrations), run checks, catch issues early, and help improve how we build. If something is off — misaligned parts, loose connections, unclear instructions, inefficiencies in the process — you fix it or flag it.

This role is about making sure our robots come together correctly, every time.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Assembling mechanical components into fully functioning robotic systems

• Performing basic electrical work (routing wires, connecting components, installing connectors)

• Reading and executing build instructions with high accuracy

• Using hand tools, power tools, and specialized equipment to perform precise assembly work

• Inspecting and testing assemblies to ensure quality and functionality

• Identifying defects, misalignments, or inconsistencies and escalating quickly

• Following SOPs, safety standards, and best practices during all builds

• Maintaining a clean, organized, and efficient workspace

• Collaborating with engineers and teammates to hit build timelines

• Contributing to process improvements to make builds faster and more reliable

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have hands-on experience with mechanical assembly or hardware builds

• Have some exposure to basic electrical work (wiring, connectors, harnesses)

• Are detail-oriented and take pride in clean, precise work

• Are comfortable using tools and working with physical systems

• Catch problems early and don’t ignore small issues

• Like working with your hands and seeing tangible results

• Can follow structured processes but also improve them

• Are reliable, consistent, and move with urgency

• Enjoy being part of a fast-moving, build-heavy environment

• Like being the person who makes things actually come together

What This Role Is Not

• This is not a purely theoretical or design-focused role

• This is not a robotics software or controls engineering position

• This is not a deep electrical engineering role

• This is not a passive “follow instructions only” job

Instead, this role sits on the front lines of building real robotic systems — where mechanical precision and clean electrical work directly impact what ships.

Growth & Impact

As we scale, this role grows with the complexity and volume of our builds.

You’ll have the opportunity to take on more ownership across build processes, quality systems, and production workflows — helping shape how our robots are assembled at scale.

If you want to work hands-on with cutting‑edge robotics and be directly responsible for bringing systems to life, this role has real impact.

About Generalist

At Generalist, we are on a mission to make general‑purpose robots a reality. We believe the industries and homes of the future will depend on humans and machines working together in new ways. Robots can help us build more and get more done.

We build embodied foundation models, starting with a focus on dexterity. This requires advancing the frontiers of data, models, and hardware, to enable robots to intelligently interact with the physical world.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.