Senior Reliability Engineer

About the Role at RobCo

RobCo is building the category of Autonomous Industrial Robotics and we're doing it fast. We believe that automating the ordinary frees humans to do the extraordinary, and we're building the end-to-end robotics infrastructure to make that possible - hardware, software, and AI in one stack that just works.

As our Senior Reliability Engineer (m/f/d), you are the technical authority ensuring system-level robustness and long-term endurance across our modular robotic platforms. If something is broken, you fix it. If something can be automated, you build it. Working cross-functionally across hardware design, physical testing, and field operations, you will translate messy real-world data into actionable design changes and world-class reliability standards.

Your Responsibilities

• Direct the multi-year reliability and endurance test roadmap, serving as the technical authority for the physical test team executing it.

• Close the loop against field and service data, translating operational insights into optimized maintenance intervals, spare-part strategies, and concrete design changes.

• Own system-level reliability across our core products and module families, building Reliability Block Diagrams (RBDs) to aggregate component data into module-, arm-, and system-level reliability targets at defined confidence levels.

• Set reliability requirements early and rigorously enforce them during design reviews to actively shape and refine the product architecture.

• Drive failure mode identification by leading DFMEA and FMEDA sessions at system and module levels, while spearheading root-cause analyses for real-world failures.

• Execute deep statistical analyses, calculating MTBF/MTTF for random failures and L10/B10 wear-out life for bearings, gears, and brakes while defending underlying assumptions.

• Evaluate data integrity with sharp engineering judgment, knowing precisely when data is decision-grade versus a placeholder to guide leadership decisions.

We're looking for someone who has:

• Completed vocational training or a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Physics, or comparable experience.

• Several years of experience in reliability engineering focused on complex electro/mechanical products.

• Strong ownership and growth mindset, pragmatic working style and analytical rigor to reach defensible conclusions from incomplete evidence.

• Very good English skills (German is a plus).

• Practical command of RBD modeling, MTBF/MTTF prediction, L10/B10 life calculation, and hands-on FMEA/FMEDA experience.

Nice to have:

• Background in robotics, industrial automation, automotive, aerospace, or medical devices.

• Domain knowledge of servo drivetrains (gearboxes, bearings, brakes) and their specific failure modes.

• Familiarity with functional safety standards (ISO 13849, IEC 61508, IEC 62061, or ISO 26262) or standard series like IEC 60300, IEC 61709, or SN 29500.

• Experience with specialized reliability tools and software (ReliaSoft, Isograph, Windchill Quality, SISTEMA, Minitab, or Python/R) and applying Weibull analysis to messy real-world data.

• Experience working with modular or configurable product families where reliability must be calculated per configuration.

Why join RobCo?

• Develop modular, software-defined robotics solutions with us that set new standards in automation.

• Help us build robots equipped with state-of-the-art AI that perceive their environment, analyze data, and make intelligent decisions in real time.

• As part of a very dynamic and fast-growing scale-up, you will take on responsibility from day one, drive your own projects, and see the direct impact of your work.

• Flat hierarchies, open communication, and regular 360° feedback enable fast decisions and support your professional and personal development.

• Work out across Germany in over 7,200 studios with our subsidized Wellpass membership.

• Flexible working hours, a modern office, and depending on the role, the option to work from home.

• Regular team events, from relaxed beer & pizza nights on the rooftop terrace to shared experiences on ski trips or at Oktoberfest.

About RobCo

Founded in Munich in 2020, RobCo leads the transition toward fully Autonomous Industrial Robotics. Our mission is to deploy RobCo in every factory - solving the industrial labor shortage through end-to-end robotics that just works. Powered by Physical AI, our solutions combine a scalable modular hardware architecture with intelligent software that adapts to your use case, improves over time, and requires zero upfront investment through our Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model.

We solve our customers' most pressing pain points - labor shortage, cost pressure, workplace safety, and national reshoring - across the full spectrum of Autonomous Industrial Robotics. With $160M raised from investors including Lightspeed, Lingotto Innovation, and Sequoia, 200+ people globally, and 2.5M+ operating hours in the field, we are deploying robots in factories across Europe and the United States - with our US operations headquartered in Austin, TX, and our RobCo Bay Area Demo Lab in San Francisco.

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

At RobCo, applicants are selected regardless of ethnic origin, religion, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation. All decisions throughout the recruitment process are based solely on applicants’ qualifications, skills, knowledge, and experience, as well as relevant business requirements.