Hardware R&D Tech Lead
Diligent Robotics · Austin, Texas, United States · onsite
The Hardware R&D Technical Lead runs the HQ team that keeps Moxi robots in hospitals working. The team provisions, builds, tests, quality-checks and ships what the field needs.
Diligent Robotics deploys Moxi, a mobile service robot, in hospitals across the US. The operating fleet is growing from about 70 robots today to about 200 by the end of 2027, mostly next-generation Moxi units at new hospital sites. This role makes sure HQ keeps pace.
The team's mission is the same as all of Service Operations: 95% overall monthly robot uptime, timely delivery of assigned objectives, and continuous improvement mindset for all systems and processes.
Responsibilities
Lead and develop the team
- Hold weekly 1:1s and give every role written expectations and clear measures.
- Coach, give direct feedback, run performance reviews, and address performance issues early, with HR.
- Cross-train the team so no task depends on one person.
- Build a culture of ownership: confirm work is done, close every loop, and hand off in writing.
Keep staffing matched to the fleet
- Track workload across provisioning, builds, QC, refurbishment and parts shipping, and spot capacity gaps before they cause delays.
- Forecast headcount with the Head of Service Operations as the fleet grows, then hire and onboard to plan.
- Plan coverage for time off, on-call rotations and build surges.
Keep the team aligned on priorities
- Own the team's charter and intake for requests from field service, engineering and manufacturing.
- Keep a single prioritized backlog and make trade-offs visible early.
- Join the daily field service stand-up, and publish a weekly status: done, in progress, blocked, decisions needed.
Coordinate testing with engineering
- Plan and run hardware tests and validation with the hardware, software and reliability engineering teams, such as docking, charging, battery, thermal and endurance testing.
- Schedule HQ test robots, make sure results are recorded and shared, and pilot retrofits before they go to the fleet.
- Support root-cause analysis on repeat field failures.
Run depot operations
- Oversee robot and base provisioning, builds, refurbishment and returns.
- Own the QC gate so parts and robots ship complete to hospital sites and to manufacturing.
- Make sure parts ship the same day, and keep work instructions and repair procedures current.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of hands-on work with electromechanical or robotics hardware, such as building, repairing, testing or field service.
- 2+ years leading technicians directly, including hiring, coaching and managing performance.
- Strong electrical troubleshooting on low-voltage DC systems, batteries, chargers and wiring harnesses, using a multimeter and reading schematics.
- Experience running a test, QC or build process with written procedures and recorded results.
- Clear, direct written and verbal communication with technicians, engineers and leadership.
- Able to balance competing priorities and say what will slip and why.
What Makes You Stand Out
- Familiarity with MaintainX or a similar maintenance management system (CMMS).
- Experience working with contract manufacturers on builds, quality issues and returns.
- Background with mobile robots, AMRs or other autonomous machines.
- Experience with lithium battery systems and charging, LiFePO4 in particular.
- Lean or 5S shop practices, or experience in a regulated environment such as healthcare.
Working conditions
- Full-time and on-site at our Austin, TX headquarters, working in a hardware shop and office setting.
- Up to 10% travel to hospital sites and manufacturing partners.
- Regularly lift and move components up to 50 lb, and stand for long periods during builds and testing.
- Occasional after-hours support when robots are down.