Systems Engineer

Roboticsconnected; Iowa; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Mind Robotics is building generalized physical AI for real-world industrial deployment. The role focuses on translating mission requirements into hardware, software, and system-level interfaces to ensure safe, reliable robotic performance.

You will own system requirements and work with firmware, mechanical, electrical, and controls teams to deliver coherent, certifiable subsystems. The candidate will lead essential analyses, drive verification strategies, and collaborate across disciplines to

Qualifications

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics, or equivalent experience.
• Experience decomposing requirements and ensuring traceability from requirement to verification.
• Hands-on hazard and risk analysis (DFMEA/HARA/FTA) and turning results into requirements and tests.
• Familiarity with functional safety standards (IEC 61508, ISO 13849, IEC 62061, ISO 26262).
• Strong ability to bridge hardware and software in cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the system requirements baseline and decompose into measurable subsystem requirements, budgets, and interfaces with traceability to verification.
• Define software requirements from high-level system requirements using first-principles analysis and hardware/model-based testing.
• Contribute to architectural decisions for new robot subsystems including communication protocols and hardware/software partitioning.
• Own interface definitions across mechanical, electrical, firmware, controls and software, managing changes and cross-subsystem impact.
• Lead system-level failure mode and hazard analysis and derive safety requirements to subsystems and verification.
• Drive verification and validation strategy from bench testing to field deployment, acceptance criteria and coverage.
• Work with subsystem owners to develop requirements and system-level coverage for on-robot diagnostics and health monitoring.
• Drive readiness reviews, sign-offs, and post-launch monitoring across firmware, hardware, controls, and reliability stakeholders.
• Collaborate with integration engineers to translate bench/field findings into requirements and interface changes.

Skills

Requirements management

Hazard analysis

Data analysis

System engineering

Scripting

Communications

Ambiguity handling

Education

Degree in Electrical/Computer/Mechanical/Systems Engineering or robotics

Tools

Jama

Polarion

DOORS

SysML

Job description

ABOUT MIND:

Mind Robotics is building Physical AI for real-world industrial deployment, starting with the factory floor. We believe the hardest problems in AI are solved when researchers and engineers are hands-on with the physical world every day - and we're looking for people who are passionate about robotics, value ownership, and are excited to tackle difficult problems. Join us if you want to move beyond digital intelligence and put intelligence into motion.

THE ROLE:

At Mind Robotics, we're building generalized physical AI — robotic systems capable of dexterous, adaptive, reasoning-intensive and most importantly safe work in real-world industrial environments. Systems engineering is the discipline that holds it all together: translating mission requirements into hardware reality and ensuring every subsystem behaves as a coherent whole.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own the system requirements baseline: capture top-level robot behaviors and performance targets, and decompose them into measurable subsystem requirements, budgets, and interfaces, with traceability through to verification
• Define software requirements from high-level system requirements, using first-principles analysis and hardware/model-based testing
• Contribute to architectural decisions for new robot subsystems — communication protocols, control strategies, and hardware-software partitioning — alongside firmware/controls, mechanical, and electrical teams
• Own interface definitions across mechanical, electrical, firmware, controls, and software, and manage requirement and interface changes and their cross-subsystem impact
• Lead system-level failure mode and hazard analysis (DFMEA, HARA, FTA) together with subsystem owners, and derive, allocate, and trace the resulting safety requirements to subsystems and their verification
• Work cross-functionally to drive the verification and validation strategy: system-level test plans from bench testing through field deployment, acceptance criteria, and requirements coverage
• Work cross-functionally with subsystem owners to drive requirements and system-level coverage for on-robot diagnostics, telemetry, and health monitoring that support field deployment and service
• Drive readiness reviews, sign-off, and post-launch monitoring across firmware, hardware, controls, reliability, and manufacturing stakeholders
• Work with integration engineers to turn bench and field findings into requirement, interface, and design changes

REQUIREMENTS:

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics, or equivalent experience
• 5+ years in systems engineering on complex electromechanical, robotic, or autonomous products, including at least one product taken through to field deployment
• Demonstrated experience writing, decomposing, and managing requirements — making high-level system behaviors measurable and testable, with traceability from requirement to design to verification
• Hands-on experience with hazard and risk analysis (DFMEA/FMEDA, HARA, FTA) and turning the results into requirements and test cases
• Working knowledge of functional safety standards and concepts (IEC 61508, ISO 13849, IEC 62061, ISO 26262, or similar)
• Strong hardware and software fundamentals — able to bridge electrical schematics, embedded communication protocols, and firmware architecture, and to debug system-level issues alongside integration and firmware engineers
• Proficient in data analysis and scripting — able to use hardware and field data to validate or challenge requirements
• Clear written and verbal communication — specs that mechanical, electrical, and firmware teams can all build and test against
• You are comfortable with ambiguity, move fast, and have an "engineering curiosity" that drives you to understand how the entire system works, not just your part

NICE TO HAVE:

• Experience with requirements management tools (Jama, Polarion, DOORS, etc.) or model-based systems engineering (SysML)
• Experience supporting product safety certification (NRTL or notified body) as a technical contributor
• Experience specifying or validating systems that include learned/ML-based components
• Background in robotics, EV powertrains, drones, aerospace, or other dense electromechanical systems
• Exposure to manufacturing self-test design or service diagnostics