Forward Deployed Operator San Francisco Bay Area

TAR; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

TAR builds fully islanded solar and storage campuses that power AI data centers, plus the construction robots that install them. As Forward Deployed Operator, you own field test campaigns from pre-test setup to go/no-go decisions, delivering structured data and safe, steady testing at our San Francisco robotics facility with multi-week field deployments in West Texas.

You will operate unmanned robotic systems in outdoor environments, field-test software and electromechanical systems, and

Qualifications

• 3+ years operating or testing unmanned or robotic systems in the field.
• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification, required at time of joining.
• Demonstrated aeronautical or operational decision-making: owning go/no-go calls, running preflight checklists, and escalating safety issues with clear documentation.
• Hands-on electromechanical troubleshooting and repair under time pressure in an iterative, failure-heavy test environment.
• Comfortable working outdoors for multi-hour test windows, lifting and moving 50+ lb equipment, and adapting to variable field conditions.
• Strong documentation and communication skills, able to report results clearly and coordinate across engineering, safety, and manufacturing.
• Open to travel and to spending multi-week stretches on-site during live deployments.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end execution of field test campaigns for TAR's robotic systems, from pre-test setup and checklists through data collection and post-test reporting.
• Serve as the certified operator for testing that requires FAA Part 107 authorization, making go/no-go decisions and following safety-forward operating procedures on every test.
• Set up, launch, operate, and recover test units in the field, troubleshooting and repairing electromechanical and software issues on-site to keep campaigns moving.
• Execute mission and fault-injection test profiles defined by engineering, capturing clear, structured data that engineering can act on.
• Maintain test equipment, spares, and field tooling, and keep detailed records of test conditions, anomalies, and outcomes.
• Escalate safety-relevant issues immediately with clear documentation, and pause or stop testing when conditions warrant.
• Report operability, reliability, and failure patterns observed during testing directly to engineering to drive design iteration.

Skills

Field testing

FAA Part 107

Go/No-Go decisions

Troubleshooting

Outdoor work

Documentation

Travel

Job description

TAR’s mission is to power intelligence for the world. We are building the world’s first off-grid power plant for data centers powered by renewable technologies.

We firmly believe AI should be built in the US for the benefit of all people. For that, power must be fast, clean and scalable. We are singularly focused on delivering GW-scale power faster than anyone has ever done, by rethinking every layer of the stack.

We vertically integrate to solve every bottleneck, from racking systems to power electronics to dispatch algorithms to on-site construction.

Leave your mark on the future of civilization-scale energy infrastructure.

Company

TAR is both a hardware and software company, we are building out massive, critical, physical infrastructure. TAR is working directly with one of the largest compute providers to scale and deploy 5GWs by 2028.

• High ownership. High Agency. Own project end-to-end. Great people don’t need to be managed.
• Speed. We achieve great things on incredible timelines. We push ourselves to go faster.
• First principles. No ego. No hierarchy. Challenge every assumption.
• Passion. Solving the energy problem is one of the largest challenges that faces the world now and in the future.

About the role

TAR builds fully islanded solar and storage campuses that power AI data centers, and it builds the construction robots that install them. Our robotics program is developing GPS/RTK-guided machines that drive piles, install racking, and grade sites at construction pace, and every one of them has to prove itself in the field before it builds a power campus. As Forward Deployed Operator, you own the field test campaigns that put them through it. You take each campaign from pre-test setup and checklists through launch, operation, recovery, and on-site troubleshooting, delivering the structured data engineering needs and making the go/no-go calls that keep testing safe and moving. This is a hands-on operator role based at our San Francisco robotics facility, with multi-week field deployments at our West Texas site.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end execution of field test campaigns for TAR's robotic systems, from pre-test setup and checklists through data collection and post-test reporting.
• Serve as the certified operator for testing that requires FAA Part 107 authorization, making go/no-go decisions and following safety-forward operating procedures on every test.
• Set up, launch, operate, and recover test units in the field, troubleshooting and repairing electromechanical and software issues on-site to keep campaigns moving.
• Execute mission and fault-injection test profiles defined by engineering, capturing clear, structured data that engineering can act on.
• Maintain test equipment, spares, and field tooling, and keep detailed records of test conditions, anomalies, and outcomes.
• Escalate safety-relevant issues immediately with clear documentation, and pause or stop testing when conditions warrant.
• Report operability, reliability, and failure patterns observed during testing directly to engineering to drive design iteration.

Qualifications

• 3+ years operating or testing unmanned or robotic systems in the field, or equivalent hands-on aeronautical or electromechanical experience.
• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification, required at time of joining.
• Demonstrated aeronautical or operational decision-making: owning go/no-go calls, running preflight checklists, and escalating safety issues with clear documentation.
• Hands-on electromechanical troubleshooting and repair under time pressure in an iterative, failure-heavy test environment.
• Comfortable working outdoors for multi-hour test windows, lifting and moving 50+ lb equipment, and adapting to variable field conditions.
• Strong documentation and communication skills, able to report results clearly and coordinate across engineering, safety, and manufacturing.
• Open to travel and to spending multi-week stretches on-site during live deployments.

Nice to have

• Experience testing early-stage or pre-production robotic hardware rather than an established fleet.
• Willingness to work nights, weekends, or a rotational schedule, and to travel between test sites as needed.
• Experience with robotics systems built for austere or field-deployed environments.
• Hands-on background from an autonomy or aerospace hardware program, such as Anduril, Skydio, Zipline, or SpaceX.