Robotics Release Engineer, System Validation

FieldAI ’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence. If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field.

What You'll Get To Do

• Plan and execute release validation for each release: new-feature validation, end-to-end operational scenarios, and regression across robot platforms, compute, firmware and configurations.
• Run end-to-end autonomous missions on real mobile robots in our test facility, the way a customer runs them: setup, navigation, data capture and recovery.
• Verify each release candidate: install the build, run the regression set, confirm hotfixes, and report status to the release team.
• Write clear, reproducible bug reports in Jira with datasets, logs, robot, build and steps attached.
• Own the pass/fail evidence that feeds the go/no-go decision: pass and fail counts, deferred bugs and known-issue lists.
• Prepare the release handover for the engineers who deploy at customer sites: what was validated, what was not, and what to watch.
• Confirm late fixes on the next release candidate before they ship.
• Build and maintain the release test-case library so each release plan starts from a curated, versioned set.
• Partner with our test automation and infrastructure engineers so the scenarios you run by hand become automated simulation and robot tests.
• Improve the release process itself: checklists, templates and retrospectives.

What You Have

• 3+ years in QA, system test, integration test or release validation for robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, industrial automation or another hardware-software product.
• Experience planning and running structured test campaigns: writing test plans, executing against acceptance criteria, tracking coverage and reporting status to stakeholders.
• Hands-on comfort with physical systems. You are willing to walk a robot through a building for hours, work on your feet, and be safety-conscious around moving machinery.
• Strong written communication. You write bug reports and status updates that others can act on without a follow-up conversation.
• Fluency with Jira or a similar tracker, and with a disciplined bug lifecycle: triage, severity, reproduction, verification, closure.
• Comfort on Linux, in a terminal and over SSH: installing builds, pulling logs, checking a process, running a command-line tool.
• Working familiarity with git: checking out a branch or tag, reading a pull request, finding what changed between two builds.
• Judgement to separate a blocker from a nuisance, and the confidence to say a build is not ready.
• Reliability and ownership. Releases run on a fixed calendar and you will be the person others depend on.

The Extras That Set You Apart

• Experience as a release manager, release coordinator or QA lead responsible for a go/no-go call.
• Robotics or autonomy domain knowledge: ROS, SLAM and localization, navigation, mission planning, LiDAR, cameras.
• Experience validating software on a fleet: multiple robot platforms, firmware versions, configurations or deployment paths.
• Scripting or test-automation experience, for example Python or Bash to automate a test step, parse logs or collect data.
• Experience with simulation-based testing or with hardware-in-the-loop setups.
• Experience with test management tools such as Xray, TestRail or Zephyr.
• Experience working alongside field or deployment engineers and customers.
• Background in a safety-critical or regulated domain.

Our salary range is generous and we consider each individual’s background and experience when determining final compensation. Base pay may vary based on role scope, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and the Irvine, California market. Why Join FieldAI in Irvine? In Irvine, you will work where the robots are. Our local team builds and tests systems on real hardware with real sensors, then ships them to operate in unstructured, previously unknown environments around the world. We are solving one of robotics’ hardest challenges: reliable deployment outside the lab. Our Field Foundational Models™ raise the bar for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, with an emphasis on explainability and safety for real-world use. You will collaborate with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. We bring deep experience from organizations such as DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, along with a track record of field deployments and strong performance in DARPA challenge segments. Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution We are looking for builders who want their work to leave the whiteboard and show up on robots. If you enjoy tackling tough, uncharted questions and working across disciplines, you will find your people here. Our teams span AI, software, robotics engineering, product, field deployment, and technical communication, all focused on shipping systems that perform in the real world. Our headquarters is in Irvine, and we partner closely with teams there as well as colleagues across the US and around the world. Join us in Southern California and help define what dependable, field-ready autonomy looks like. We value diverse perspectives and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We evaluate candidates and employees based on merit, qualifications, and performance, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally protected status.