Manager, Field Engineering & Operations

Third Wave Automation; Union City (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental & Vision

401(k) matching program

Meals provided daily

Snacks & meals

Job summary

Third Wave Automation seeks a technical leader to manage and scale our Field Engineering team, owning the full lifecycle from site assessment and deployment to fleet maintenance and ongoing support.

You will bridge field operations with core engineering, triaging field data and coordinating with software and hardware teams to ensure safe, reliable operation across deployments. Travel to customer sites is required.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in field engineering, technical operations, or deployment in robotics/automation.
• 2+ years direct people management, hiring and scaling technical teams.
• Strong fluency in robotics systems and terminology (localization, perception, calibration, kinematics).
• Experience managing L1/L2 customer support and on-call rotations.
• Ability to manage cross-functional projects spanning deployment, customer success, and fleet operations.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites for deployments and escalations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale the Field Engineering team, owning capacity planning and on-call scheduling.
• Oversee site assessments, deployment prep, hardware/software deployment, and operator training.
• Manage fleet maintenance, PoCs, and metrics to drive adoption and uptime.
• Triages field issues with software/hardware teams, prioritizing bugs and engineering work.
• Serve as operations point of contact for customers and coordinate field communications.
• Oversee Field Performance Testing for new hardware/software releases.

Skills

Robotics leadership

Team leadership

Field deployments

Technical triage

Cross-functional

Customer support

Travel readiness

Job description

Third Wave Automation is a rapidly growing startup that has demonstrated its core technology components, proven its market fit, and just closed its Series C funding. If you are excited about cutting edge machine learning, robotics that affects the real world, and want to join a company where your skills can have a huge impact, you’ll fit right in.

Third Wave Automation is applying modern machine learning to materials handling—delivering site‑specific forklift navigation and infrastructure‑free pallet handling that continuously adapts to changing floor configuration and warehouse demand.

Job Description

We are seeking a technical leader to manage and scale our Field Engineering team. This team owns the full lifecycle of our robotic fleet at customer sites—from initial site assessment and deployment to ongoing fleet maintenance, L1/L2 customer support, and customer success initiatives. You will act as the critical bridge between our field operations and core engineering teams. A strong baseline in robotics (perception, localization, calibration) is required to effectively triage field issues, prioritize engineering bugs, and ensure our fleet operates safely and efficiently at scale.

How You Can Make an Impact

• Team Leadership & Hiring: Recruit, manage, and mentor a team of high‑performing Field Engineers. Own the capacity planning and on‑call scheduling for L1/L2 support.
• Pre‑Handoff Execution: Oversee initial site assessments (mapping and surveys), pre‑deployment prep, hardware/software deployment, and customer operator certification training.
• Post‑Handoff Operations & Success: Manage fleet maintenance schedules, execute operational Proof of Concepts (PoCs), and track key performance metrics. Drive customer success initiatives focused on increasing daily utilization and adoption of the deployed fleet.
• Technical Triage & Bug Prioritization: Partner directly with software and hardware engineering to review field data. Use your technical understanding of robotics (localization, perception, autonomy) to accurately qualify bugs, assess severity, and prioritize engineering support requests.
• Operations Point of Contact: Be the point of contact for our customers for day‑to‑day operations and production issues and communications.
• Release Testing: Manage Field Performance Testing (FPT) for new hardware and software releases, ensuring system stability before full‑scale rollouts.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in field engineering, technical operations, or deployment within the robotics, autonomous vehicle, or industrial automation space.
• 2+ years of direct people management experience, with a track record of hiring and scaling technical teams.
• Strong fluency in robotics systems and terminology (e.g., localization, perception, calibration, kinematics). You do not need to write the code, but you must be able to read system logs, understand the architecture, and hold technical ground with senior engineers.
• Experience managing L1/L2 customer support structures and on‑call rotations.
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross‑functional projects spanning deployment, customer success, and ongoing fleet operations.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites for critical deployments, mapping surveys, or high‑level customer escalations.

The pay range for this position is $175,000 - $210,000/yr + benefits + equity; however, base pay offered may vary depending on job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Base pay information is based on market location.

More About Working Here

Our Core Values:

• Safety. We consider safety in everything we do.
• People. We care about our teammates as people.
• Encouragement. We encourage teaching, asking questions, and sharing opinions.
• Transparency. We are transparent and sincere in our actions.

A robust set of benefits and perks:

• Comprehensive benefits: Health, Dental, Vision, and a 401(k) matching program.
• Flexible working schedule. Be productive when you work best.
• Show & Tell. We love to learn from one another, and see the cool stuff everyone is working on!
• Meals are covered. Lunch is provided every day, and dinner for those evenings that run long.
• Stacks of snacks. Donuts are a main food group, and the snack shelf is always stocked with a wide variety of items.
• Great teammates. One of the best parts of working here!

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We value each person's expertise and experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

All qualified applicants able to work in the United States are encouraged to apply. We are unable to sponsor H‑1 visas subject to fees required by the ‘Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers’ Presidential Proclamation dated September 21, 2025.