About the role
Robotics Engineer — Early Team (SF)
We’re a seed-stage team in San Francisco building robotic systems to automate real-world lab workflows. Most lab processes today are still manual, slow, and error-prone.
Our goal is to build a fully autonomous, “black-box” lab — systems that can take in high-level inputs and run physical workflows end-to-end without human intervention.
We’re not there yet. The system is still evolving, and a big part of this role is figuring out what actually works and making it reliable.
What you’ll do
- Design and build mechanical and electromechanical subsystems
- Write the code that actually runs the system (control logic, sequencing, hardware interfaces)
- Bring up new hardware and get it working end-to-end
- Debug failures across the full system — mechanical, electrical, and software
- Iterate until systems are stable and repeatable, not just working once
Required
- You’ve built and delivered at least one complex physical system with real ownership
- You’re comfortable writing code that interfaces directly with hardware
- Strong ability in at least one area:
- Mechanical design
- Controls
- Embedded / systems programming
- Experience working with motors, sensors, and power in a real system
- Good at solving unexpected problems
Preferred
- Experience building systems that had to run reliably over time, not just demos
- Experience integrating multiple subsystems into a working system
- Prior startup, lab, or independent build experience
What this role requires
- Ownership — you will be responsible for real parts of the system
- Comfort with ambiguity — we are still figuring things out
- Speed — we build and iterate quickly
Details
- San Francisco (in-person)
- Compensation: $140k–$220k + equity
About Anthrogen
Anthrogen is a San Francisco-based AI research lab building large, complex protein assemblies and biological nanomachines. Its Odyssey multimodal protein models generate, edit, and co-design protein sequences and structures. The company combines large-scale generative models with wet-lab experimentation and robotic automation for applications in human health and industrial manufacturing.
High-precision manufacturing applications include fabs and chips. Anthrogen is also beginning to engage in biodefense and biosecurity.
Required skills
Other roles at Anthrogen
Refer someone
Know someone great for this role?
Share your link. If they get hired through Standout, you get $3,000.
Job details
Salary
$140,000 - $220,000
Equity
0.1% - 0.5%
Location
San Francisco, CA
Experience
0+ years
Funding
Last stage
Seed
Investors
Founders
What happens next.
No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.
Confirm the fit
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
I pitch you to the company
I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.
A meeting lands on your calendar
If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.
