Fleet Operations: Application Engineer
Boston Dynamics · United States · 2mo ago
The Mission
Boston Dynamics is rapidly scaling the Atlas humanoid fleet from prototype development to large-scale deployment. As a Fleet Operations Application Engineer, you will serve as the technical quarterback for fleet health, reliability, and operational execution.
You are the first line of technical response when a robot experiences an issue. Your responsibility is to quickly determine whether the problem originates in software, controls, hardware, networking, infrastructure, or operator workflow, then coordinate the right technical experts to restore fleet availability.
This role sits at the intersection of Prototype Operations, Controls Engineering, Software Engineering, Hardware Engineering, and Research. Success requires broad technical knowledge, exceptional troubleshooting ability, strong operational leadership, and excellent communication.
What You'll Do
Fleet Technical Operations
Serve as the first technical point of contact for robot issues across the fleet.
Continuously monitor fleet health, availability, telemetry, and mission readiness.
Own operational awareness across all active robots while communicating fleet status and needs to engineering and leadership.
Balance robot availability, experiment schedules, repairs, and software releases to maximize fleet utilization.
Technical Triage
Perform rapid system-level troubleshooting across controls, software, hardware, networking, sensors, power systems, and infrastructure.
Analyze logs, telemetry, system behavior, and robot performance to isolate failures.
Determine root-cause hypotheses and drive the appropriate escalation path.
Distinguish between software defects, controls issues, hardware failures, configuration errors, and operational problems.
Create high-quality engineering tickets containing sufficient technical detail for efficient resolution.
Incident Leadership
Lead technical incident response meetings during fleet-impacting events.
Coordinate Software, Controls, Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, and Repair teams during active troubleshooting.
Drive clear ownership, priorities, action items, and follow-up.
Communicate technical status to engineers, management, and stakeholders throughout an incident.
Fleet Reliability
Identify recurring failure modes across the fleet.
Partner with engineering teams to improve diagnostics, health monitoring, automation, and tooling.
Recommend process improvements that reduce downtime and improve robot reliability.
Develop troubleshooting playbooks and operational procedures for repeatable issues.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Act as the technical bridge between Fleet Operations and Engineering.
Support software deployments, hardware upgrades, and configuration management.
Coordinate repairs and validate robot readiness before returning systems to service.
Ensure lessons learned from fleet operations directly influence future robot designs.
Who You Are
A systems thinker who enjoys solving complex technical problems spanning multiple engineering disciplines.
Comfortable operating in ambiguity while making sound technical decisions under pressure.
Able to quickly narrow problems without immediately jumping to conclusions.
An exceptional communicator who can translate technical information for engineers, technicians, and leadership.
Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple high-priority issues simultaneously.
Naturally collaborative and comfortable leading cross-functional discussions without direct authority.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
5+ years supporting complex electromechanical products or technical operations.
Experience managing or supporting an operational fleet of robots, autonomous vehicles, industrial equipment, aircraft, ships, manufacturing systems, or similarly complex assets.
Experience troubleshooting systems that integrate software, controls, networking, sensors, and hardware.
Experience leading technical incident response or operational reviews.
Strong understanding of Linux, networking fundamentals, and system diagnostics.
Experience using issue tracking and operational management tools such as Jira, ServiceNow, or similar platforms.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with humanoid robots, autonomous systems, industrial robotics, or advanced automation.
Familiarity with controls systems, motion control, embedded software, or real-time systems.
Experience reading robot logs and telemetry to diagnose failures.
Experience with Python or scripting for data analysis or automation.
Understanding of version control, software deployment, and configuration management.
Experience developing operational procedures, playbooks, or troubleshooting documentation.
The pay range for this position is between $154,000 to $200,000 annually. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors including, but not limited to internal equity, job related knowledge, skills and experience. This range represents a good faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Boston Dynamics offers a generous Benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401(k), paid time off and a annual bonus structure. Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer for employment.