R&D Technician, Manager

Charge Robotics

San Leandro HQ

Who this role is best for

Best suited to candidates with leadership experience in mechanical/electrical assembly working in the solar robotics industry, prioritizing in-person collaboration and hands-on technical execution.

Best fit for

Candidates with prior technician team leadership and hands-on assembly expertise in robotics or automation
— “prior experience leading or mentoring technicians”
Individuals who can translate complex engineering designs into actionable build processes
— “translating engineering intent into clear build instructions”
Professionals motivated by climate impact and comfortable with startup innovation cycles
— “excited to see our robots deployed on solar construction sites”

Things to consider

In-person presence required at San Leandro HQ with no mention of remote flexibility
— “available to work 5 days/week from our San Leandro, CA headquarters”
Strong emphasis on safety culture enforcement as a core managerial responsibility
— “owning and reinforcing the team's culture of safety”

How to stand out

Highlight experience managing small teams and executing complex build timelines
— “leading and people-managing a team of ~8 technicians”
Demonstrate ability to create and maintain technical documentation and SOPs
— “developing and maintaining engineering documentation”
Quantify past improvements in build-process efficiency or 5S implementations
— “driving continuous-improvement initiatives (e.g., 5S, tooling/fixture planning)”

Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Manager

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

led technician team in building solar installation robots
developed and maintained engineering documentation

Typical background

5+ years of relevant experience in mechanical and/or electrical assembly

Skills & requirements

Required

Mechanical And Electrical AssemblyTeam LeadershipBuild ExecutionTechnical DocumentationSafety Procedures

Preferred

RoboticsIndustrial AutomationSolar Construction

Stack & domain

Mechanical AssemblyElectrical AssemblySchematics/cad DrawingsAssembly InstructionsSopsIndustrial Robot ArmsEnd EffectorsIndustrial Automation SystemsLeadershipPeople ManagementCommunication SkillsProblem-solving AbilitiesTeamworkSafety ProceduresPositive AttitudeMotivationSolar InstallationRobotsSolar FarmsClimate Change

About the role

Original posting from Charge Robotics via Ashby

ABOUT THE ROLE
As the Manager of the R&D Engineering Technician team at Charge Robotics, you'll lead our technician team (~8) in building, testing, and deploying our next generation of solar installation robots. You'll be the connective tissue between the engineering teams and the technicians on the floor — owning build execution while developing the people who make it happen.
What you'll be working on:
Leading and people-managing a team of ~8 technicians, including approving hours/PTO, prioritizing and assigning work across projects, and holding regular 1:1s and performance feedback
Owning build execution: ensuring builds are complete, on schedule, and meet quality standards, including final inspection and sign-off on completed systems
Upskilling the team through hands-on coaching, onboarding new technicians, and building out their technical and process capabilities
Supporting the mechanical + software engineering teams in assembly, testing, and support of new robotic systems, and translating engineering intent into clear build instructions
Developing and maintaining engineering documentation, including assembly instructions and SOPs
Maintaining and organizing the workshop, and driving continuous-improvement initiatives (e.g., 5S, tooling/fixture planning, build-process efficiency)
Owning and reinforcing the team's culture of safety, including following and enforcing safety procedures
You:
Have at least 5 years of relevant experience in mechanical and/or electrical assembly, including prior experience leading or mentoring technicians
Have strong mechanical, electrical, equipment, and safety intuition refined through personal or professional projects
Are comfortable interpreting schematics/CAD drawings and assembling complex electromechanical systems independently
Have a positive attitude, enjoy working in-person, and are excited about managing and motivating a small team
Will follow safety procedures and reinforce a strong and healthy culture of safety
Are available to work 5 days/week from our San Leandro, CA headquarters
It'd also be nice if you:
Have experience working with industrial robot arms, end effectors, and industrial automation systems
Are excited to see our robots deployed on solar construction sites, and to play a direct role in fighting climate change!
ABOUT CHARGE ROBOTICS
Charge Robotics is a Series A startup building robots that build solar farms.
Demand for new solar projects is booming (1 ⁄ 5 of all the solar that exists in the US was installed last year!), but today’s construction companies can’t keep up due to limited labor resources.
We thought this was insane, so we started working on robots to directly address this bottleneck and speed up the world’s transition to renewables.
Charge is a fast-moving company, which means constant opportunities for learning and growth. You’ll have a large impact on the direction of our company, and will be compensated accordingly.
If you are excited to work on interesting problems with direct climate impact, you’re going to fit right in at Charge Robotics.
READ MORE ABOUT CHARGE IN THE NEWS:
Fast Company – Solar Building Robots to Solve One of Climate's Biggest Problems https://www.fastcompany.com/91108331/these-solar-assembling-robotic-arms-could-solve-one-of-the-industrys-biggest-problems
MIT News – Making solar projects cheaper and faster with portable factories https://news.mit.edu/2025/charge-robotics-makes-solar-projects-cheaper-faster-portable-factories-0312
YouTube – full video of our Gen1 robots building a solar farm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ2fP1Y5Z2E
We’re MIT-founded and backed by top generalist and climate tech investors, including Founders Fund, Energy Impact Partners, Lux Capital and Y Combinator (S21).
Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Source: Charge Robotics careers (Ashby)