Principal Engineer - Robotics Safety and Complianc

ArcBest; Fort Smith (AR); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaux seeks a Principal Product Manager for Robotics Safety & Compliance to drive end‑to‑end lifecycle decisions from discovery to post‑launch validation. You will align strategy with engineering teams, translating complex safety requirements into actionable roadmaps.

You will lead safety and regulatory initiatives across hardware and software, collaborate with OEMs, and steer customer programs while optimizing profitability and platform scalability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in robotics, electrical/mechanical/systems/industrial engineering, computer science, or related field.
• Master's degree (or MBA) in robotics, artificial intelligence, engineering, or related field, preferred.
• 8+ years of relevant experience, preferred.
• Experience with robotics, autonomy, or industrial automation products required.
• Experience working with robotics engineering teams across hardware, perception, autonomy software, and control systems, including supporting field deployments, preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own multi-horizon roadmaps translating strategy into actionable product roadmaps and detailed product requirements.
• Lead product safety and compliance strategy to ensure robotics systems meet applicable standards and certifications.
• Oversee hazard analysis, risk mitigation design, and verification and validation planning for certification and safe deployment.
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to embed safety and compliance across hardware, software, and control systems.
• Manage relationships with OEMs and key suppliers to support certifications and platform scalability.
• Provide technical leadership and communicate progress, metrics, and roadmap decisions to leadership.
• Direct and mature voice of customer programs, review product performance data to identify requirements and roadmaps.
• Adjust engineering priorities to maximize customer value, commercial impact, and long‑term platform scalability.
• Develop PRDs translating customer insights and data into testable requirements and outcomes.
• Build models to determine Smart Autonomy pricing for profitability.
• Leverage telemetry data to monitor performance, usage, and reliability for iteration cycles.
• Support product marketing to define TAM and ideal customer profile.
• Represent the business in cross‑functional sprint and release planning, ensuring informed trade‑offs.
• Communicate development status and roadmap decisions to leadership.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills

Product management

Cross-functional leadership

Robotics

Stakeholder communication

Safety engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in robotics, engineering, or related field

Master's degree or MBA in robotics/AI/engineering

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Job Description

The Principal Product Manager - Robotics Safety and Compliance drives execution and value creation across Vaux's autonomous intralogistics portfolio. Reporting to the Vice President, Smart Autonomy Business Line - Vaux, this position bridges commercial strategy, product management, and functional safety engineering to deliver differentiated and safe autonomy solutions. The Principal Product Manager - Robotics Safety and Compliance owns the end-to-end product lifecycle, from market discovery and requirements definition through backlog prioritization, validation, release, and post-launch optimization. This position translates customer insights and operational feedback into clear product requirements, guiding development priorities and roadmap decisions. The Principal Product Manager - Robotics Safety and Compliance ensures the safe design, development, and deployment of the Vaux Smart Autonomy robotics platform. Working closely with robotics engineering teams, this position integrates safety architectures, risk mitigation strategies, and compliance with relevant global industry standards and certifications across functional safety, electrical, cybersecurity, and communications into product design and deployments. The Principal Product Manager - Robotics Safety and Compliance requires strong leadership and communication skills to align cross-functional teams, translate complex safety requirements for internal and external stakeholders, and drive product outcomes that support recurring revenue growth and margin performance. This position is ideal for professionals passionate about robotics, automation, and data-driven decision-making who thrive in cross-functional collaboration with customers, engineering, commercialization, and deployment teams.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead translation into multi-horizon roadmaps of Smart Autonomy business line strategy into actionable product roadmaps and detailed product requirements.
• Lead product safety and compliance strategy to ensure robotics systems meet applicable multi-category standards and certifications, including robotic safety, functional safety, electrical safety, and regulatory market requirements.
• Oversee hazard analysis, risk mitigation design, and verification and validation planning to support certification and safe deployment of new products.
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to embed safety and compliance requirements across hardware, software, and control systems throughout the development lifecycle.
• Manage relationships with OEMs and key suppliers to ensure component and system selections support required certifications and long-term platform scalability.
• Provide technical leadership to multidisciplinary teams and communicate product progress, performance metrics, compliance outcomes, and roadmap decisions to leadership and stakeholders.
• Direct and mature voice of customer programs, evaluate live deployments, develop strategic customer relationships, and review product performance data to identify product requirements and product roadmaps.
• Exercise decision-making authority to establish and adjust Smart Autonomy engineering priorities, proactively rebalancing technical resources to maximize customer value, commercial impact, and long‑term platform scalability.
• Own the product what" and "why" by developing product requirement documents (PRDs) that translate customer insights, field observations, and operational data into testable requirements and expected economic outcomes.
• Build, refine, and maintain quantitative models to determine Smart Autonomy pricing to maximize Vaux profitability.
• Leverage analytics and telemetry data to monitor performance, usage, and reliability, driving data-informed iteration cycles.
• Support product marketing efforts to prioritize target markets for Vaux Smart Autonomy portfolio, define TAM, set customer hit lists, and define the ideal customer profile.
• Serve as a primary business representative in cross‑functional sprint and release planning, facilitating clear trade‑off decisions and prioritization based on value and risk.
• Communicate development status, product metrics, and roadmap decisions effectively to leadership and stakeholders.
• Other duties and projects, as assigned.

Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Robotics, Electrical/Mechanical/Systems/Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field, required
• Master's Degree (or MBA) in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, or related field, preferred

Experience:

• 8 years of relevant experience, preferred
• Experience with robotics, autonomy, or industrial automation products, required
• Experience working closely with robotics engineering teams across hardware, perception, autonomy software, and control systems, including supporting field deployments of complex automation systems and translating operational feedback into product improvements, preferred

Computer Skills:

• Proficient in Microsoft Office