Automation Engineer
Foundational Industries · San Francisco
Foundational Industries · Bay Area · Full-Time
About Foundational
Foundational is building a network of AI-native, autonomous factories for modern contract manufacturing — reshoring critical supply chains so companies can produce high-quality products domestically, quickly, and at competitive cost. Recent breakthroughs in robotics and physical AI have shifted autonomous manufacturing from theoretical to deployable, and we're focused on operationalizing these capabilities at scale during a decisive decade for American industrial leadership.
WHO — Who Thrives Here
At Foundational, we're building with people who want to own something — to do work that matters, in an environment where what you ship is what counts.
The people who thrive here:
Take ownership before they're asked. They see the gap and close it.
Operate with a high degree of judgment. We move fast, and good judgment travels farther than a playbook.
Communicate directly — concise, clear, and candid, especially when stakes are high.
Hold a high bar for themselves first, then for everyone around them.
Are genuinely energized by hard problems in physical, real-world environments. Energized — not just interested.
Stay effective when things are ambiguous, changing, or under pressure. That's the job.
This is a place for people who want to build something that has never existed before and leave a clear mark on it.
MISSION
Build and own the automation layer that turns FI's floor from manual cells into instrumented, autonomous capacity — designing, integrating, and commissioning robotic and controls systems that hold takt, feed our data backbone, and pay back the capital that bought them.
OUTCOMES — What Success Looks Like in 6–12 Months
We track results. Here's what we expect this person to own and deliver:
First 90 days — First automated cells scoped, justified, and on order — robots, end-effectors, safety architecture, and material presentation defined against a real bottleneck, with a healthy payback.
First 6 months — Cells commissioned and running at rated takt with first-pass yield and uptime instrumented and streaming data.
By 12 months — A repeatable cell-design and commissioning playbook in place: standard robots/controls/safety stack, fixturing conventions, FAT/SAT acceptance criteria, so the next cells are a configuration. Cells live across distinct process steps, with measured OEE gains and a prioritized automation roadmap tied to where labor, variability, or ergonomics are optimized.
SKILLS
Hands-on robotics integration (industrial and/or collaborative): cell layout, reach/payload sizing, end-effector and fixture design, path optimization, and machine-tending integration.
Controls and PLC programming (ladder/structured text), HMI development, servo/motion, sensor and vision integration, and tying cell data into higher-level systems.
Machine safety: risk assessment, safeguarding design, and functional safety conforming to recognized standards — you design it in, not bolt it on.
Capital justification: building the cost/takt/yield/payback case for an automation investment and defending it to people who control the money.
Commissioning discipline: FAT/SAT, acceptance criteria, debug methodology, and the documentation that lets someone other than you keep the cell running.
COMPETENCIES
These are the behavioral patterns that predict success here — in practice, under pressure.
Accountability — You own outcomes. If something's off track, you say so and fix it.
Bias for action — You ship. You iterate. You move toward the hard thing.
Clarity of communication — Direct and concise, especially when it counts.
Learning agility — You get up to speed fast in unfamiliar territory.
Resilience — You stay sharp when things are hard, ambiguous, or moving fast.
High standards — You raise the bar rather than match it — and hold yourself to it first.
Building from zero — You can stand up a mechanical engineering function from scratch — drawing standards, analysis practices, release discipline — and run it yourself until there’s a team to hand it off to.
Why Foundational
This is a filter as much as it is an invitation.
We're turning reindustrialization from a talking point into an operating reality. The work is hard, the environment is demanding, and the stakes are real. We compensate with base, bonus, and equity to reflect impact, responsibility, and results, with meaningful upside for the people who help build and scale this company.
For those aligned with the mission and motivated by execution at scale, Foundational offers the opportunity to help define one of the most consequential industrial transformations of the next decade.
Foundational Industries is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Foundational complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We evaluate every candidate on what they can do and who they are.
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