Chef Robotics is accelerating the deployment of intelligent machines in the physical world, starting with food production — the sector facing the largest labor shortage in the U.S., with 1.14M unfilled jobs today and 3.1M projected by 2030. These roles can't be offshored, making robotics essential to keeping production onshore and strengthening America's manufacturing base.
Our AI-powered robots automate food prep and assembly in commercial kitchens and food manufacturing, and have already produced over 110 million meals in production — generating the world's largest proprietary dataset for deformable food manipulation. Backed by investors including Kleiner Perkins, Construct, Bloomberg Beta, and Promus Ventures, and built by a team from Cruise, Zoox, Google, Tesla, and Amazon Robotics, Chef is rapidly scaling with multiple multi-year contracts and a mission to put an intelligent robot in every commercial kitchen.
About The Role
As the Head of Hardware, you will be a key member of the senior leadership team, responsible for defining and executing the hardware strategy that will take us to enterprise-level performance. You will oversee the system architecture for our next-generation products while managing and mentoring a high-performing team of mechanical engineers and manufacturing technicians.
In this role, you will:
- Oversee hardware architecture and system definition for both our existing solutions and our next-generation enterprise-focused products.
- Lead the transition from producing 2-3 units per week to a high-volume operation, with a target of deploying 100+ robots by year-end.
- Partner with Contract Manufacturers (CMs) and manage the global supply chain to aggressively reduce Bill of Materials (BOM) costs and improve lead times.
- Work closely with the Heads of Software, Autonomy, and Application Engineering to ensure tight hardware-software integration and prioritize features based on real-world data.
- Implement rigorous DFM (Design for Manufacturing) and DFA (Design for Assembly) standards to ensure enterprise-grade reliability in harsh kitchen environments.
What you bring:
- 10+ years of hardware engineering experience, with at least 5 years in a leadership role (Director or VP level) at a robotics or complex electromechanical systems company.
- Demonstrated success in taking a product from low-volume "lab" production to high-volume manufacturing via Tier-1 CMs.
- Deep expertise in mechatronics, motion control, and ruggedized system design.
- Experience managing complex BOMs and driving significant cost reductions without compromising quality.
Nice-to-Haves:
- Experience in the food-tech or industrial automation sectors.
- Knowledge of regulatory certifications (UL, CE, NSF) for commercial kitchen equipment.
- Background in a high-growth, venture-backed startup environment.
Chef Robotics is solving one of the hardest problems in AI and robotics — and we ship. Our robots are in production today, generating real data that trains the next generation of food AI. Backed by Kleiner Perkins, Construct, Bloomberg Beta, and Promus Ventures, and built by a team from Cruise, Zoox, Google, Tesla, and Amazon Robotics, we're scaling fast with multiple multi-year enterprise contracts. If you want to build physical AI with real-world deployments and real impact, Chef is the place.
Chef Robotics San Francisco, California, USA Office
986 Mission St.,, San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103
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