Systems Engineer (Excavator Automation)

Gravis Robotics is a high-growth Series A start-up backed by SoftBank, bringing Physical AI to the construction industry, turning heavy construction machines into autonomous robots.

Gravis began as an ETH Zurich spin-out, and our unique combination of learning-based automation and augmented remote control lets one operator safely conduct a fleet of earthmoving machines in a gamified environment.

Backed by deep robotics research and now deployed across multiple countries with leading construction and equipment partners, our team is rapidly growing to bring this technology to a trillion-dollar industry.

The Gravis RACK is a machine-agnostic retrofit kit that adds autonomy to excavators and wheel loaders from 10 to 100+ tonnes: LiDAR and camera sensing, GNSS RTK, networking hardware and rugged edge compute that works offline. Paired with the Slate tablet and our Copilot software, it lets an operator run a machine manually, with AI assistance, or fully autonomously.

About the Job

The autonomy team at Gravis builds autonomous systems for excavators operating in real construction environments. This role is at the intersection of system engineering, integration, field deployments, and debugging.

We are looking for an engineer with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Robotics or relevant fields and at least 2 years of practical, hands-on experience working with real systems - and if they fail, you can help us figure out why. This is not an entry-level or new-graduate role.

You will help define and execute system-level test scenarios, support atypical and beta deployments, and act as a technical bridge between the field and the engineering team. You will help train our field engineers and keep them in touch with fast evolving autonomy capabilities.

What you will do

• Validate system behavior across machines, environments, and operating conditions

• Identify edge cases, failure modes, and operational limits

• Collaborate with engineering teams on making technical decisions on a system level

• Investigate system failure during field testing or deployments

• Apply hotfixes when appropriate

• Support or conduct deployments if needed, especially pilots or beta customers

• Support/conduct atypical deployments, pilots, and beta customers

• Capture lessons learned from deployments and feed them back into system testing and design

• Help prioritize fixes and improvements based on real-world impact

What we're looking for

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or a closely related field

• 2+ years of hands-on experience working with complex systems (automation, robotics, vehicles, heavy machinery, industrial equipment, or similar)

• Strong system-level troubleshooting and debugging skills

• C++ and Python programming skills, proficiency in git systems

• Proficiency in Linux systems

• Comfortable working in field environments (construction sites, test yards, deployments)

• Ability to travel abroad, according to needs of the business

• Driver’s license B category

Beneficial

• Experience with excavators, heavy equipment, or off-road vehicles

• Field testing experience

• Familiarity with communication technologies such as DDS, Zenoh, LCM etc.

• Experience in motion planning or control

• Experience in robotic competitions