EVP of Logistics Automation

Job description

As the EVP of Automation, Logistics Team, you will own both the strategic leadership and hands-on engineering of the full-stack software platform that powers our in-house-built manipulator robots and automated forklifts (AGFs) that are deployed to production sites, as well as doing zero-to-one development for future projects, such as in-house-built AGFs as well as humanoid-arm-integrated solutions. The scope of expertise includes motion planning, path planning, perception, and system integration, as well as cloud-based system application backend and frontend, for both manipulators and AGFs. You will have two major responsibilities. First is to translate ambitious product goals into a scalable, safety-certified architecture that spans everything from low-level motor control loops to cloud-connected autonomy services. Second, you will scale the already-deployed product and its team structure to achieve stable and reliable development and release cycles, which also include volume production, combining team-building, budget oversight, supplier strategy, and product-lifecycle management with deep individual technical contributions. ### Key Responsibilities ## Leadership & Management ### Robotics System Product Management - Define, document, and deliver end-to-end system requirements—including functional, safety, performance, and cybersecurity requirements—that balance customer value, business viability, and technical feasibility. Shepherd those requirements through design, verification, validation, and release so they become robust, shipping products. This would also include improving the existing architecture of deployed products. - Analyze and understand the performance and key challenges of currently deployed products across motion, perception, fleet, and system applications, as well as challenges within the team structure. Using those insights, plan and deliver improvement items within timelines agreed upon with the business team and other departments. Collaborate with the DevOps department to create a sustainable CI/CD pipeline and release cycles. Create a robust team structure that can continuously improve the UX and performance of currently deployed manipulator and AGF products and support the deployment of tens of robots across multiple warehouses. - Partner closely with the EVP of Hardware, the EVP of Production, and the Service teams to align every stage of development, from concept to field deployment and daily maintenance. ### Roadmap Planning & Execution - Build and maintain a cross-functional roadmap that covers embedded firmware, real-time middleware, high-level autonomy, and cloud integration. - Secure headcount, allocate resources, control budgets, and remove roadblocks until the system is deployed at customers’ sites—on schedule and within quality and cost targets. ## System Architecture & Design - **Low-Layer Control** — Own the architecture for PCB firmware, including PID gain tuning for motors, high-rate sensor I/O, and deterministic CAN, RS-422, and other communications between custom PCBs and the Jetson main computer. - **Mid-Layer Control** — Design, implement, and maintain ROS 2 control stacks (`ros2_control`), fleet control, safety observers, and mission state machines that seamlessly switch between Teleoperation, Automation, and AI modes for manipulators and AGFs. - **High-Layer Control** — Integrate MoveIt 2 motion planning, fleet management, whole-body controllers, localisation, teleoperation UIs, and cloud orchestration services for warehouse applications. Ensure tight coupling with ML inference pipelines and fleet-management backends. - **System Integration & Validation** — Drive hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) testbeds and field acceptance testing to guarantee reliability, safety, and performance at scale. ## Project & Stakeholder Management - Translate stakeholder needs—including those of customers, business, hardware, production, and service teams—into clear system-level requirements and acceptance criteria. - Track the critical path, manage risks, and communicate status to executives and cross-functional partners. ### Qualifications ## Professional Experience - Experience leading multidisciplinary robotics software or systems-engineering teams (or equivalent tech-lead experience with clear people-management potential). - Demonstrated P&L or budget responsibility for production-grade robotic-system programs. - Proven track record of shipping complex robotics software (beyond PoC) that operates reliably in real-world customer environments. ## Technical Skills - Expert in the ROS 2 ecosystem (`ros2_control`, `rclcpp`, DDS, MoveIt 2). - Deep understanding of robotic-system controls (manipulator / AMR / AGV / AGF). - Basic understanding of AI and CV algorithms and real-time Linux. - Strong background in CI/CD pipelines and release cycles. - Strong background in distributed systems and networking (gRPC, WebRTC, RTSP). - Understanding of cloud systems such as Azure, GCP, and AWS, coupled with frontend (TypeScript, etc.) and backend (C#) development. - Proficiency in C++ (C++14 and above) and Python. - Familiarity with functional-safety design patterns, formal verification, and cybersecurity hardening. ## Soft Skills & Culture Fit - Ownership mentality—takes responsibility for outcomes and proactively solves problems. - User-centric mindset—balances technical elegance with customer value and operational practicality. - Comfortable in a high-performance, high-accountability culture (strong upside for results). - Excellent communication skills in English; Japanese proficiency is a plus. ### Preferred - Motion control systems: writing and tuning controllers, controlling robotic manipulators, using inverse kinematics and motion planning with existing libraries and/or handcrafted algorithms. - Low-level hardware communication (CANopen) and embedded hardware. - Experience developing cloud-based frontends and backends using TypeScript, C#, etc. - Experience productizing AI/CV algorithms combined with robotics. - Proven success in designing or testing game-changing products in the robotics or a similar industry.