The Company
We believe general-purpose, generally-intelligent robots will be built in our lifetimes. Robots will work in our factories, move our goods, walk on our streets and eventually be in our homes. To build that future, research and deployment must work in lockstep: real-world operation must make the technology better and better technology must make deployment easier. We're looking for the thinkers, builders, and researchers who want to be part of that loop.
As an AI robotics company that deploys its inventions directly into the facilities that need them, on state-of-the-art hardware, every line of code written at Tutor has a direct impact on the global, physical economy.
Our Culture
We believe that something truly special can happen when talented, motivated people work together; at Tutor, every member of our team is empowered to have real impact in everything that they do. We're characterized by both technical excellence and next-level collaboration and respect.
About the Role
Our robots are built from hardware we design and hardware we buy, and many of our suppliers are in China. We're looking for an engineer to evaluate that hardware, integrate it into our robots, and work directly with the suppliers who make it.
This is an engineering role. You will measure suppliers' hardware on the bench, review their designs, find where they fall short, and work with their engineers, in Mandarin, on the fix. You will be based in Watertown and spend a large part of your time at supplier sites. As this work grows, there is room to hire and lead other engineers doing it.
What You'll Do
Evaluate new hardware: Characterize arms, actuators, sensors and other components on the bench, including torque, stiffness, backlash, thermal behavior and electrical noise
Review suppliers' designs: Read their drawings and schematics, find the weak points, and propose changes
Integrate and test: Design the mounts, harnesses and interfaces that put new hardware on our robots, then test until it holds up
Work with suppliers' engineers: Spend time at their sites, agree on changes, and keep the work moving between visits
Carry our requirements: Make sure the people building for us understand what we need and why
Build prototypes: Run small prototype builds and bring what you learn back to the design team
Travel: Spend roughly a third to half of your time in China
What We're Looking For
Depth in mechanical or electrical engineering: You have designed hardware that shipped, and you can explain the design decisions you made
Working ability in the other discipline: A mechanical engineer who can read a schematic and probe a board, or an electrical engineer who can read a drawing and reason about loads and tolerances
Experience developing hardware with suppliers or factories in China: You have taken a product from prototype toward production with them
Fluent Mandarin and English: You can hold a technical discussion and write a specification in both
Strong test and measurement habits: You build test setups, take measurements, and write up what you found
Willing to travel: Long and frequent trips are part of the job
Nice to Have
Experience with robot arms, actuators or motor drives
Firmware or embedded experience
Experience hiring or leading engineers
Time spent living and working in China
